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Books bp Gilbert bh. Crafton

PUBLISHED BY
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

BIRD FRIENDS. Illustrated.

METHODS OF ATTRACTING BIRDS. Illus-
trated.

BIRD FRIENDS

Missing Page

BIRD:>FRIENDS

A COMPLETE BIRD BOOK
__ggFOR AMERICANS Jy 7

FPGILBERT H.TRAFTON -
WITH Iu] USTRATIONS

BOSTON AND NEWYORK ~
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY Bs *
_— THhe Riverside Press Cambridge.

£
ba SACKER

1916

A.37423)

Published September 1916

TO
MY SON LEROY

PATIENT, CHEERFUL, UNCOMPLAINING
DURING LONG-CONTINUED AFFLICTION
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED

PREFACE

THESE pages are written, not only for the bird-
lover, but also for the general reader who has no
special interest in birds, but who is interested in
those matters that pertain to community welfare.
Most of the topics presented in this book have
been treated in an entertaining way in many excel-
lent bird books, but most of these books cover only
one or two phases of bird life, so that a person de-
siring to be generally informed on birds must secure
several books. The bird enthusiast is glad to do this,
but not the average citizen, who has no more inter-
est in birds than in many other topics. It is highly
desirable that every citizen should be informed on
the need of conserving bird life as one of our valu-
able national resources. It has been the purpose of
the author to gather within one set of covers a brief
discussion of the essential facts concerning bird life
that are of general interest, which are now scattered
through many books, bulletins, and magazines.
One of the most interesting developments of the
past few years has been the rapid strides made in
the cause of bird-protection. Much of this work has
been of such recent origin that information regard-

vili PREFACE

ing these various protective agencies and their work
can be found only in recent periodicals. An effort
has been made in these pages to bring together some
of the more valuable of this material.

The author has also presented for the general
reader a brief summary of the investigations of the
food habits of our common birds, made by the
Bureau of Biological Survey, the reports of which
were originally published in bulletins to which most
readers do not have access.

The author has had especially in mind one large
group of readers, who have something of a profes-
sional interest in this subject, namely, the teachers
of the country, who are now teaching children about
birds in nature-study and through bird clubs. The
last chapter has been specially prepared for their
use, in the hope that it may prove helpful to them in
teaching this subject to children.

The author acknowledges his indebtedness to
those who have so kindly looked over portions of
the manuscript and given suggestions thereon: to
the Bureau of Biological Survey for looking over
Chapters VI to XI inclusive; to Mr. Ernest Inger-
soll for reading Chapters XVI, XVII, and XVIII; to
Mr. Edward H. Forbush for reading Chapters I to
VI, inclusive, and XII to XV, inclusive; and to Miss
Helen M. Reynolds for suggestions on Chapter
XXIII. Special thanks are due to Mr. Forbush for
his courtesy in sending advance sheets of his annual

PREFACE ix

reports and of his bulletin on the Domestic Cat, from
both of which much valuable material was obtained.

The entire manuscript has been read by Mr.
Francis H. Allen, who has given many valuable
suggestions.

G. H. T.

Manxarto, Minn.

CONTENTS

PART I
The Value of Birds

A. Terr AistHetic VALUE AS A SUBJECT FOR STUDY

I. Brrp TRAVELERS .

Discovery of America — Ghaaves au rm Alirsition _
Regularity of migration — Distances birds travel —
Winter homes — Speed and height — Routes of migra-
tion — How birds find their way — Causes of migra-
tion.

II. Brrp Music

Why birds sing — pion is song — ‘Tinie of ala of
song — Music of songs — Methods of recording songs —
Similarity to human music — Classification of songs —
Variations in songs — Call-notes.

III. Brrp Homes .

Time of building — Location of diet _ Materials _—
Shape — Time occupied in building — Nesting-habits
of cowbird — Number of broods — Change in nesting-
habits.

IV. Home Lire or Brrps ‘

Eggs — Incubation — Condition of young sigh

hatched — Feeding young — Brooding young — A house

wren’s day — Care after leaving nest — Enemies of
nestlings.

V. Cotors AND PiumaceE or Birps .

Moulting — Change due to wear — Changes in olor
— Differences due to sex — Protective coloration.

VI. How to Know raz Birps i
Attractions of bird-study — identification of pa
Where to find birds —~ When to find birds — How to
study birds — What to study — Bird-photography —

Table of fifty common land-birds.

XI.

XIIT.

. STRIKING THE BALANCE

CONTENTS

B. Tuetr Economic VaLur

. FRIENDS AMONG THE Brirps aS DESTROYERS OF

Insect Pests oe Satie ae bah tee Be

Bureau of Biological Survey — Methods of determin-

ing food of birds — Harm done by insects — Nature’s

check on insects —Service performed by birds —

Amount of food eaten by birds — Value of nestling birds

— Control of insect outbreaks — Division of labor —
Birds of a Maryland farm — Birds and human health.

. FrreENDS AMONG THE Brrps As DESTROYERS OF

Weep SEEDS...

Harm done by weeds — Characteristics that make
weeds troublesome — Birds as destroyers of weed seeds
— Amounts of weed seeds eaten — Effect on weed-
patches.

. Brrps as Destroyers oF RopEent Prsts

Harm done by rodent pests — Value of hawks and
owls — Study of food of hawks and owls — Classifica-
tion of hawks and owls — Money value of hawks and
owls.

. Fors AMONG THE Brirps

Fruit-eaters — Injury to grain — Destruction of
poultry — Damage to trees and wood products — De-
stroying beneficial insects — Injury to valuable birds
— Preventing depredations of birds.

Harmful birds — Neutral birds — Beneficial birds
— Table of food of birds.

PART II
Enemies of the Birds

CHANGES IN THE NumBERS or Brrps . .

Extinct birds — Species in danger of extermination
—~ Decrease of game-birds and shore-birds— Have song-
birds decreased ?

Tur Natura, Enewies or Birps

Four-footed enemies — Feathered enemies — The
elements.

- 110

«216

- 128

CONTENTS

XIV. Brrv Enemies Inrropucep py Man: Tue Cat
AND THE ENcGLIsH SPARROW
The Cat.
Method of doing harm — Opinions of bird-students
— Number of birds killed by cats — Cats as disease-
carriers — Remedies.
The English Sparrow.
Ways in which it is harmful — Remedies: — Shoot-
ing — Poisoning — Trapping.

XV. Maw as an Enemy oF THE Birps .

Advance of civilization — Shooting for sport —

Shooting for market — The milliner’s trade — Egg-
collecting — Remedies.

PART III
Bird-Protection

A. Prorective AGENCIES

XVI. Work or THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES.

History of the Societies — American Ornithologists’
Union — Work of National Association of Audubon
Societies:

Legislation — Warden work — Egret-protection

— Publications — Junior Audubon classes —

Field agents.

State Societies.

XVII. Brrp-Protection BY GOVERNMENTS — STATE AND
NATIONAL . ‘
Work of State @oveennieute:
History of legislation — Model law — Bird day —
Laws for game-birds — Summary.
Work of National Government:
Bureau of Biological Survey —Lacey Act — Mi-
gratory bird law — Tariff regulations — Bird res-
ervations.

XVII. Brrv Cruss ..

Meriden Bird Club — aneadh Hill ‘Bird Clits

Burroughs Nature Club — Liberty Bell Bird Club —

Private game preserves — Summary of results in
bird-protection.

xiii

. 135

. 161

. 174

. 188

- 209

XIV

XTX.

XXII.

XXIII.

CONTENTS

B. Arrractine Braps

Nestinc-BoxgEs Bl eB Be cn ih, ete i B28
Reasons for attracting birds — Birds using boxes —
Types of houses — Imitation both inside and outside
—[mitation outside only — No attempt at imitation
—Entrance opening — Putting out the house —
Martin-houses — Open Houses — Nesting-material —
Dealers in apparatus to attract birds.
. Feepinc tHe Winrer Birps . . . . . 249
Reasons for feeding birds — Birds to expect —
Kinds of food — Methods of putting out food — Diffi-
culties.
FouNTAINS AND SHRUBS FOR THE Birps . . 260
Fountains: :
Essentials — Location — Plans for fountains —
Fountains on lawns — Visitors at fountains.
Shrubs:
Planting for shelter — Planting for nesting-sites
— Planting for food.
Calendar for attracting birds.
DomesticaTION OF Witp Birps .. ee

Success achieved — Methods of rearing wild birds
— Rearing the bob-white — Rearing ducks — Attract-
ing wild ducks.

PART IV
Bird-Study in Schools

TracHinG Birp-PRoTEcTION IN THE ScHoots . 279
Purposes of bird-study — Materials for bird-study
— Hand work—Bird games— Bird calendar —
Using children’s activities — Field trips — Bird
clubs — Bird day — Relation of bird-study to other
subjects — Essentials of a good lesson — A type les-

son — Outline of bird-study by grades and seasons —
Series of lessons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . 817

INDEX s).. a Gee a OT

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Brrp Garpen . . . «Sg sg. Colored Frontispiece
From a drawing by Amy M. Sacker

Buvuesirps, Mate anp FEMALE fo ye. Ja". GE! tee Jas
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Rosin SINGING BS OR Ober i ma SP AS A se SI
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Lone-sILLED Marso Wren at Nest . . . .. . 26

Insipr or Housrt Wren’s Nestinc-Box . . . . 26

Youne Green Herons iNest... . . . 30

Two-Storiep NEst oF YELLOW WARBLER, SHOWING COW-

BIRD’S EGG SEALED IN LOWER STORY . . . .. . 30
A Wren Moruer anp Her Famiry . . . . . 88
MorTHER WoRKS WHILE FatHer sines. Pam or Housse
WRENS “ae oe el BR lee 1 aR es oe 288

Battmore OrtoLtes, Mate aNnD FEMALE . . . . 46
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

TowHEE, oR CHEWINK, Mate anp Fema. (colored) . 50
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

ReED-HEADED WoopPsEcKER (colored) O. Oa ee ee, 42-64
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

SpeciMEN Lear from A Brrp NoteBook . . . . 58

A Userut Citizen. Houser Wren. . . . . . 66

DiacraM oF Foop or Aputt Houser Wren . .. . 66

From Yearbook of Department of Agriculture for 1900

Downy Woopprcker (colored). . . «. «. « « TA
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

xvi ILLUSTRATIONS

Fox Sparrows, Eaters oF WEED SEEDS . . . . 84
From a drawing by R. Bruce Horsfall

Goprincu (colored) ste Se eG -2- S88
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Hueties

Screech Own . Pe ee a
From a drawing by R. Paice Horsfall

Enecusu Sparrows, Mate AND FematE . . .. . 100
From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Cat with Ropmy. . oe: er ow ASE
From a photograph by William Tasiell oe

A Cat THAT DOES NOT KILL Birps ‘ . 136
From a photograph of a cat owned by Prof. Burt G. Ww idee

Youne Ecrets Lert FaTHERLEss AND MorHERLESS BY
Puume-Hunters .. . 168

From a photograph seasoned is permission of ihe National
Association of Audubon Societies

Rep Sourrrent, A Nest-RopBER ao we ge a-68
From a photograph by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt

Birp Isuanp, Fioripa. RESERVATION OWNED BY THE
NatTIoNaL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SocIETIES . . 186

From a photograph by C. E. Baynard reproduced by permis-
sion of the National Association

CauirorniA Murres oN THREE Arco Rocks OFF THE
OrEGON Coast, ONE OF THE GOVERNMENT Birp REs-
ERVATIONS : . 186

From a photograph by William i Riley saa i. ‘Es ‘Pekan

JoHN BuRROUGHS AT THE DEDICATION OF “‘ WrEN’s NEST”
In ATLANTA, GA., BY THE BuRROUGHS NatTuRE CLUB . 214
From.a photograph by Albert H. Pratt

Fretp Day in Renwick Woops, Iruaca, N.Y. Mr. L.
A. FUERTES ADDRESSING THE Cayuca Brrp Cius .. 214
From a photograph by Arthur A. Allen

ILLUSTRATIONS

LoNGITUDINAL SECTIONS OF WOODPECKER’S HOLE AND OF
Von Brrierscu Nestinc-Box
From Hiesemann’s “‘ How to Attract and Prsteet Wild Birds ”

Naturau Nestinc-SitE oF A FLICKER IN AN OLD APPLE
TREE

Turer Tyres or Nestine-Boxes
From a photograph by J. R. Snow

Orren Nestinc-Boxts ror Rosin AnD PH@BE a
From a photograph by J. R. Snow

Buvesirp at Entrance to Nestinc-Box .
House WrEN anp Tomato-Can Housze

TREE SwaLLtow at Nestine-Box
From a photograph by W. H. Phillips

Martin-House AccommMopaTING Five THousanp Birps
From a photograph by C. E. Hamilton

Screrecu-Ow. mw Nestine-Box
From a photograph by E. H. Forbush

Sone Sparrow at Luncu-CounteR

Downy Wooprecker at LuncH-CouNTER .
CHICKADEE FEEDING FRoM Hanp

Hermit TurusH at LuncH-CountTER

A Brirp’s TEPEE, MADE OF BEAN-POLES WITH THE VINES
STILL ATTACHED
From a photograph by iiaale M. Cusine

A Seur-Supptyinc Feep-Box . . . . .
From a photograph by Edwin C. Brown

Suer-BaskETs . . eM
From a photograph by J. R. Snow

Rep-Breastep NuTHatcH, PERCHED ON Hanp
From a photograph by Laurence J. Webster

xvii

« 228

- 228
- 232

. 232

. 236
. 236
. 236

236

« 244

. 250
. 250
- 250
. 250

. 250

- 254

. 254

xviii ILLUSTRATIONS
Wuitr-Breastep NuTHATCH, FEEDING FrRoM Hanp . 254
From a photograph by Edwin C. Brown

SHELTER FoR Brrps’ Foop. FIFTEEN BIRDS FEEDING, —
Sone Sparrows, TREE SparRows, JUNcos . . . 258

From a photograph by William C. Horton

Winpow anp Movine Foop-SHELVES . . . . . 258

Bosp-WHITE REARED IN CapTiviry .. . 262
Reproduced by permission of the National ‘sivetaiink of
Audubon Societies

Concrete Brrp FounrTarn on THE AvTHOR’s Lawn... 262

ScHoot Brrp CALENDAR. e See al Be. ee B84
From a photograph by A. D. Whedon

Freepinc-Station ror Brrps ww Yarp or Tranmrnc-
‘Scoot, Mankato State Normat Scuoon, Minnesota 284

Scnoot Brrp Founrar, Passaic, N.J. oe ew. 292

Junior AUDUBON Cuass aT TRAINING-SCHOOL, Manxarto,
Min. hs Sain” GS oe. 220)
From a nieiscagh by As D. Whedon

The illustrations, except as otherwise stated, are from photographs by
the author.

BIRD FRIENDS

CHAPTER I
BIRD TRAVELERS

Discovery of America. The subject of bird mi-
gration is of special interest to Americans, because
it is probable that migrating birds aided Columbus
in the discovery of America. During the latter part
of his voyage, when his sailors were beginning to
mutiny, he fell in with flocks of birds which were
making their annual flight from the Bermudas to
the Bahamas. Columbus followed these birds and
was thus guided to land. Otherwise it is quite pos-
sible that he could not have induced his sailors to
continue farther, and thus the discovery of America
would have been postponed.

Recent records of migration. During recent
-- years, there has been kept at Washington a very
complete record of the facts of migration, relating
to the times and routes of migration and to the
winter homes of birds. For more than twenty years
these records have been collected by the Bureau of
Biological Survey, through the codperation of over
two thousand bird students throughout North
America, so that now they have a large array of

g BIRD FRIENDS

reliable data regarding bird migration, comprising
over a half-million records.

Changes due to migration. The conspicuous sea-
sonal changes in bird life which occur regularly
every year are due to bird migration. Birds may
be divided into four groups in accordance with the
portion of the year that they remain in a given
locality. Permanent residents remain in a locality
all the year. In the cold Northern States these in-
clude such common birds as the blue jay, nuthatch,
chickadee, downy woodpecker, goldfinch, and a few
others. Farther south the list becomes longer.

Summer residents remain for the summer only,
during which season they are nesting. They spend
the winter in regions farther south. Most of the com-
mon birds found during the summer in the north-
eastern section of the United States belong to this
group, such as the oriole and the house wren.

Winter residents are found in a locality only
during the winter, the summer being spent in re-
gions farther north. In the Northern States, this
group includes such birds as the winter wren, snow
bunting, tree sparrow, redpoll, and red-breasted
nuthatch.

Transient visitants are birds which are seen for
a few weeks in the spring and again for a few weeks
in the fall as they are migrating. These birds spend
the winter farther south and the summer farther
north, and are seen only when passing through, on

BIRD TRAVELERS 3

their way to and from their breeding-grounds. Many
warblers belong to this group. The birds which be-
long in each of these four groups vary according to
the locality.

The general changes in bird life due to migration
which occur annually in any locality may be briefly
summarized as follows: During the winter months
the birds found in a locality belong to the perma-
nent residents and winter residents. For several
months there is little change in the kinds of birds
seen. But beginning with the early spring the migra-
tion commences, the exact date varying with the lat-
itude and the weather. New birds continue to come
in large numbers up to the middle or last of May,
some remaining for the summer and others passing
farther north. Meanwhile the winter residents have
been leaving. Then follows the breeding-season,
and for several months there is little change in the
kinds of birds seen. About the first of September
the fall migration begins, extending into Novem-
ber, the birds gradually leaving for the South,
slipping away so quietly that they may be gone for
some time before their absence is noted. In the
late fall the winter residents arrive, and bird life
settles down again to the winter quiet. Thus this
annual change occurs year after year with great
regularity.

Regularity of migration. The time at which each
species of bird arrives at a certain place varies little

4 BIRD FRIENDS

from year to year for most birds. The date when the
early migrants arrive may vary considerably ac-
cording to the season, but the dates for the later
migrants are fairly constant.

The order in which the various birds arrive is also
well fixed. Certain birds are always among the first
migrants regardless of the season, such as the robin
and the bluebird, and other birds are always among
the last migrants to arrive, such as the indigo bunt-
ing and wood pewee, and this order remains about
the same from year to year.

Distances. The distances that birds migrate
vary greatly with the species. Some birds may mi-
grate southward only a few miles; others travel
farther, to the Southern States; and over a hundred
species leave the United States. Some winter in
Central America, some in the northern part of
South America, and still others in the southern
part of South America. Some warblers which nest
in Alaska probably travel to Brazil, a distance of
seven thousand miles.

Golden plover. The two most noted travelers
among birds are the golden plover and the Arctic
tern. The golden plover nests along the Arctic
coast of North America. It then proceeds to Lab-
rador and Nova Scotia, and from here it may make
a continuous flight, in pleasant weather, of twenty-
four hundred miles, to the coast of South America.
It then passes on to Argentina, where it spends the

BLUEBIRD

Upper, male; lower, female

BIRD TRAVELERS 5

winter. It returns north by a different route, pass-
ing along the western part of South America and
through the United States by the Mississippi Val-
ley, and thence to the northern coast of North
America, its nesting-site, a distance of eight thou-
sand miles from its winter home.

Arctic tern. The Arctic tern has even a longer
range of travel than the golden plover. Some of
these birds breed along the Arctic coast of North
America, a nest having been found within seven
and a half degrees of the North Pole. Its winter
home is eleven thousand miles away, within the
Antarctic Circle, within sixteen degrees of the
South Pole. Thus the bird flies almost from pole to
pole, twice a year, a journey of twenty-two thou-
sand miles, a distance nearly equal to the earth’s
circumference. Mr. W. W. Cooke points out that,
as a result of being near the poles for so much of the
year, it lives for about eight months in regions of
perpetual sunshine, and during the rest of the year
its days are much longer than its nights. It might
well be called the bird of sunshine.

Winter homes. As one watches the birds in their
flight, it is interesting to think of the countries from
which they have come, and of the varied scenery
which their keen eyes have looked upon. The hum-
mingbird that visits our garden flowers has seen
the Panama Canal; the Baltimore oriole that swings
its nest from our elm trees has seen the Andes in

6 BIRD FRIENDS

Colombia; the rose-breasted grosbeak spends his
winter just over the equator in Ecuador; the king-
bird has perhaps flown above the waters of Lake
Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru; the bobolink has
traveled from Paraguay to build his nest in our
meadows; the red-eyed vireo has visited the coffee
plantations of southwestern Brazil; the barn swal-
low that builds his mud nest in our barns will
return to the Pampas in Argentina for his winter
sojourn; while some of the nighthawks that nest in
Alaska may travel to the southern part of South
America, to Patagonia, a distance of about seven
thousand miles and of about one hundred and fif-
teen degrees of latitude.

Speed. The speed with which birds migrate
varies with different species of birds and with the
same species of bird in different parts of its journey.
In general, birds travel faster during the latter part
of their journey than during the first part. During
the first part of March, the robin averages thirteen
miles a day in migrating from southern Iowa to
central Minnesota. From here its speed keeps in-
creasing till it is traveling at the rate of seventy
miles a day when it reaches Alaska by the middle
of May. The robins along the Atlantic Coast travel
more slowly, at the rate of seventeen miles a day.

The average speed for all species of birds is
twenty-three miles per day from New Orleans to
southern Minnesota. From this locality some spe-

BIRD TRAVELERS 7

cies travel northward at the rate of forty miles a
day, and still farther north some at seventy-two
miles, others at one hundred and sixteen miles, and
five species, on arriving in Alaska, are traveling at
the rate of one hundred and fifty miles a day.

The figures here given are for the species as a
whole, not for individual birds. Usually birds mi-
grate only a few hours during the night and then
rest for a day or two, so that the average rate at
which a species migrates is much less than for an
individual bird. Our common small birds prob-
ably travel at the rate of about thirty miles an hour
while migrating; ducks and geese may travel at the
rate of forty-five miles an hour. Thus during a
single night birds may travel from two hundred to
four hundred miles.

Daily time of migration. Some birds migrate by
day, some by night, and some both by day and
night, but most are night travelers. The time se-
lected by a bird for migration depends on its power
of flight, its method of procuring food, and its dis-
position. The warblers, vireos, and thrushes mi-
grate by night, the swallows and hawks by day;
while ducks, shore-birds, and sea-birds migrate both
by day and night.

Routes. As birds travel between their winter and
summer homes, it is found that they follow fairly
well-defined routes. In the central United States
the Mississippi Valley is the most common route,

8 BIRD FRIENDS

and in the eastern United States, the coast-line.
The route by which a bird travels north is usually
the same as the one by which it returns south, al-
though there are some exceptions to this rule.

When birds which are en route for South Amer-
ica reach the Gulf Coast of the Southern States,
several routes are possible. A few birds pass from
Florida and follow the chain of islands extending
southeast —the Bahamas, Haiti, Porto Rico, and
the Lesser Antilles— and thence to South America.
A few fly from southern Florida to Cuba, thence
to Jamaica, and then make the flight of five hun-
dred miles from Jamaica to South America: the
bobolink takes this route. A few birds, like the cliff
swallows, follow along the coast of Mexico; but the
great majority of species fly directly from the Gulf
Coast of the Southern States across the Gulf of
Mexico to the southern shore of the Gulf, a distance
of from five hundred to seven hundred miles. From
there the journey is continued through Central
America to South America.

Another route much used by water-birds extends
from Nova Scotia to the Lesser Antilles and the
northern coast of South America. It was the birds
which were migrating along a portion of this route
that guided Columbus to land.

How birds find their way. One of the puzzling
problems of migration is how birds find their way
during these long journeys. On June 7, 1911, a

BIRD TRAVELERS 9

chimney swift fell through an opening in a chimney
into a room of a house located in Meriden, New
Hampshire. Mr. E. H. Baynes was in the room and
placed on the bird a small numbered leg-band and
let the bird go. About one year later, on June 15,
1912, a chimney swift again fell through the same
hole into the same room, and when Mr. Baynes took
up the bird he found it to be the same one he had
banded the year before. This bird had traveled to
Central America, spent the winter there, and then
traveled back to the same town, and to exactly the
same chimney it had occupied the previous year.
How had it been able to find its way over this long
route back to the same nesting-site?

Bird’s sight. Many theories have been advanced
to explain how birds find their way. Probably no one
theory will satisfy all conditions. There are doubt-
less many factors needed to give a satisfactory ex-
planation. One important factor is the bird’s sight.
Birds have very keen eyesight, and it seems probable
that birds flying at a great height may be guided by
conspicuous landmarks, such as mountain-chains,
coast-lines, and river-valleys which extend in the
same direction as the routes of migration. In North
America, the coast-lines and mountain-chains and
the Mississippi Valley extend in the general direction
in which most of the birds migrate. But this expla-
nation alone is not sufficient, as birds may migrate at
right angles to these landmarks, and may find their

10 BIRD FRIENDS

way in a fog when landmarks are invisible, or over
large bodies of water where no landmarks can be
seen; and frequently birds fly so close to the ground
or water that they cannot see any landmarks. And
again birds may travel straight for long distances
over routes which they have never seen before.

Sense of direction. Still another suggestion is
that birds have a sense of direction which enables
them to find their way. This is simply ascribing a
power to birds without any real explanation, but
experiments which have been made with birds seem
to show quite conclusively that some birds do pos-
sess this sense of direction. Several birds were cap-
tured on Bird Key south of Florida, and were placed
in the hold of a steamship and taken north to Cape
Hatteras, a distance of about one thousand miles
from their nesting-sites, and released. Five days
later, two of them were back on their nests. In this
case no other explanation seems possible than that
the birds found their way through a sense of direc-
tion, as the birds had never flown over this route
before, and could not see the way over which they
had come, and so could not make use of any land-
marks.

Causes of migration. The most puzzling of all
questions concerning migration is, why do birds
migrate? At the outset it may be stated that bird
students are not agreed as to the causes of migra-
tion, but brief reference may be made to a few of the

BIRD TRAVELERS ll

theories*which have been put forward at various
times to explain the cause of bird migration.

Food and temperature. It is very commonly
stated that lack of food and low temperatures cause
birds to migrate. But even a very hasty examination
of the facts shows that these do not explain migra-
tion. The fall migration begins during the late sum-
mer, when the temperature is still high, and at a
time when insect life is abundant. Furthermore,
during the spring migration, birds are traveling into
regions where the temperature is lower and insect
life is less abundant than in the regions which they
are leaving. And again, some tropical sea-birds mi-
grate from one section to another where the condi-
tions of temperature and food-supply are practically
the same.

Glacial theory. One theory relates the origin of
bird migration closely with the glacial age. Fossils
which have been found show that before this age
North America had a warm climate, even in its
northern portions. ‘This climate must have been
well adapted for bird life during all parts of the year.
As the ice-sheet began to extend south, the birds were
driven before it, and as it melted and receded north,
the birds followed it back. In accordance with this
theory, the habit which the birds thus acquired of
moving back and forth, following the oscillations
of the ice-sheet, was inherited eventually by the birds
as an instinct and still exists to this day.

12 BIRD FRIENDS

Physiological explanation. None of these theories
is generally accepted by bird students as giving a
satisfactory explanation of migration. It is probable
that birds have a physiological instinct which prompts
them to migrate in order to rear their young, just as
their instinct leads to other actions, such as singing,
mating, nest-building, egg-laying, and incubating.
But this statement, of course, gives no explanation
as to how and why this instinct originated.

CHAPTER II
BIRD MUSIC

Why birds sing. Of the many interesting sounds
in nature, bird songs are the most charming. The
song of birds is a sexual characteristic developed in
the male during the nesting-season. It is closely re-
lated in the first place with mating, and is one means
by which the male attracts the attention of the fe-
male during courtship; it continues, however, dur-
ing most of the nesting-season. Occasionally the
female has been known to sing, as with the rose-
breasted grosbeak and cardinal. While singing is
primarily a sexual instinct with the birds, yet it may
probably be carried on for the esthetic pleasure
derived, as some birds seem to show appreciation
of the harmony of music.

Season when birds sing. Spring and early summer
is the season of bird song, but there is a great varia-
tion as regards the time when different species begin
and end their song. The first birds that come in the
spring begin to sing at once, so that the song sea-
son in the northern United States begins in March.
The song of the later arrivals is added to these, till
the height of the song season is reached in May. As
the family cares begin to occupy the attention of the

14 BIRD FRIENDS

birds, they become more wary and busy, so that
during June the volume of bird music gradually
becomes less as the birds drop out of the chorus one
by one. During July there is a still more marked
decrease, till by the end of the month nearly all the
birds have ceased singing, although a few continue
well through the summer, such as the house wren
and red-eyed vireo. When birds rear two broods,
this tends to prolong the song season.

Time of day when birds sing. The bird chorus
begins in the early morning at earliest daybreak and
reaches its climax about sunrise and then declines
till it is nearly over by the middle of the forenoon,
although a few birds, like the wren, sing nearly all
day long. During the middle of the day most of
the birds are quiet. The chorus begins again late in
the afternoon and continues till some time after sun-
set. The evening chorus is not so vigorous and long-
continued as the morning chorus, although some
species of birds sing rather more in the afternoon
than in the morning.

The birds do not all begin and end their morning
song at the same time. Certain birds are usually
among the first to begin, an hour or more before
sunrise, such as the chipping sparrow, the robin,
and the song sparrow, and as the morning advances
other birds join the chorus. This order in which the
different birds begin to sing is about the same from
morning to morning.

BIRD MUSIC 15

Identification by song. Bird songs are of interest to
mankind for two reasons: as a means of identifying
the singer and as a source of pleasure on account of
the musical harmonies produced, just as one enjoys
human music. When the leaves on the trees have
developed in the late springtime, it is often difficult to
see the birds which may be behind the foliage. But
if one knows the song of the bird, he can identify it
without seeing it. It is a source of much pleasure to
be able to recognize the voices of one’s bird friends
as he walks past their haunts.

Music of bird songs. But the feature about bird
songs that appeals most strongly to one is their har-
mony, that reaches the musical sense which every one
possesses in some degree. As one may plan to attend
a concert to hear some of the fine musical produc-
tions of the human voice, so one may plan to attend
the morning or evening chorus of the birds to hear
some of the fine musical productions of the bird’s
voice. Each kind of music has its accompaniment.
The human voice is usually accompanied by some
instrument, which adds to the charm of the voice.
The accompaniment of bird music is the natural sur-
roundings in which it is rendered, the things that we
associate with it. A beautiful sunset may be the
accompaniment of the song of the vesper sparrow,
a quiet wood on a hill-slope that of the hermit
thrush, and a little tree-bordered brook that of the
kinglet. These natural accompaniments are closely

16 BIRD FRIENDS

interwoven with the songs and add greatly to our
enjoyment of them.

Methods of recording bird music. Several plans
have been used for describing and recording bird
songs. People differ so much in their way of inter-
preting bird songs that no one method of description
will be clear to all.

One of the simplest methods of recording bird
songs is to use syllables sounding like the song of the
bird. In some cases this works very well, as in the
case of the chickadee and some other birds which
have been named from their song. In other cases
the attempts to describe the song by syllables are not
so successful, as different syllables may be used by
different people. Following are some examples of
attempts that have been made to describe songs this
way: —

Red-winged blackbird: kong-quer-ree, or o-ka-lee, or gug-
lug-eee. These all agree in having three syllables and in
having the last syllable end in e.

Maryland yellow-throat: wichity, wichity.

Flicker: wick, wick, wick.

Nuthatch: guank, quank, quank.

Oven-bird: teacher, teacher, teacher.

Another way of recording songs is to use a series
of dots or dashes to indicate the number of syl-
lables and the difference in pitch. The song of the
chestnut-sided wees might be represented thus:

. This means that the song has

ROBIN SINGING

BIRD MUSIC 17

six syllables and that they are all on the same pitch
except the next to the last, which is higher than the
others. The song of the robin may be represented
CUMS: ar. a : : . This
indicates that fie notes are ee ditivered ¢ in
groups of three, with an occasional two-note group.

Still another method of recording bird songs is
the attempt to write them on the musical scale used
for human music. Following is a record of the rob-
in’s song in musical notation, as given by Mr.
Schuyler Mathews in his “ Field Book of Wild
Birds and Their Music”’: —

Allegro agitato. =

aaa : t c 2 ae
we

mf rs

ROBIN

In order that the three methods of recording bird
songs may be compared, the song of the white-
throated sparrow is given in each of these methods.

By syllables: Old Sam ee ae Peabody.

By dots:
By musical staff: —

d= 76. Moderato.

—
ne -p-° 8° 0 @ 6° © 6 9° - -O-

mead at, aS NEN ee ae CE ESSN — Be 7

CA Tos a —— ae a |

Ofts—to—t | | me

CWZ- ot i i J
vu

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
(The bird sings two octaves higher)

18 BIRD FRIENDS

Described in words, this last means that first
come two long tones of equal length, then three
groups of triplets, each group being equal in length
to one of the long notes; and in each triplet the
middle note is the shortest, the first note being equal
to three of these and the last note equal to two of
them.

Similarity of bird music to human music. There
is something of interest in the song itself as a musical
production divested of its harmony and surroundings.
Mr. Henry Oldys, who has made a special study of
bird songs for a number of years, finds some interest-
ing similarities between bird music and human mu-
sic. First, the resemblances in form of structure
are so close that it is possible to record many bird
songs on the same musical scales that are used for
human music.

Mr. Oldys writes: —

One especially remarkable point of resemblance be-
tween bird and human music, however, cannot be too
strongly emphasized. I have found the wood pewee and
the wood thrush uttering songs, in some cases identical,
in others nearly so, in structural form with many of our
four-time ballads and hymns. This form is governed by
the following unwritten rule: the first and third lines are
identical; the second and fourth are identical in notes or
character, except that the second ends with a note that
leaves the musical sense suspended, and the fourth with
one that satisfies it, the keynote. The wood pewee song
follows this form strictly.

BIRD MUSIC 19

Mr. Oldys gives the following song of the wood
thrush as illustrating thisrule of the human ballad:—

WOOD THRUSH

- A second similarity between bird and human music
is found in the fact that these two kinds of music
have been developing along similar lines. Bird
music to-day is very similar to human music in its
earliest stages, and similar to the music of some prim-
itive people to-day, and may even be superior to it.

Bird duets. A third similarity is shown in the
fact that birds possess a musical taste and show ap-
preciation of musical tones. Mr. Oldys cites cases
where birds sing duets, one immediately following
the other, where the second bird sings a theme which
naturally follows and completes the theme of the
first bird. The birds have been known to repeat
these several times, each waiting till the other fin-
ishes. In some cases where two birds were singing
unrelated themes, one bird has been known to
change its theme soas to makeit harmonize with the
other’s notes. This antiphonal form of singing has

20 BIRD FRIENDS

been observed especially among meadowlarks, but
also among chickadees, chewinks, song sparrows,
and field sparrows. These duets are usually sung
between birds of the same species, but occasionally
are heard between birds of different species. The
following records of duets are given by Mr. Oldys: —

o6- £t:
=f). oo “pst etTetTe et @ TT @
f i | | a a f H zi aE H 1 + H
|e a eT I ll Tice al =a al
Ces EEE ES ee
US? I {

DUET OF TWO FIELD SPARROWS

|
= 192). tr
Pee |: a // Jere
(ota # co
Se i—7 i
Chewink
o= 89. 1 oe
2 2
pepe == £
Ago —}
J

Bewick’s Wren
DUET OF CHEWINK AND BEWICK’S WREN

Bird trios. Mr. Oldys also records a very unusual
case of three meadowlarks singing a trio. Two larks
were first singing unrelated phrases. One bird then
changed its song to make it respond to that of the
other, and after this was repeated several times, a
third meadowlark cut in with a phrase related to

BIRD MUSIC 21

the other two and appropriately placed, and the
three birds sang twice around this trio.
Og Brrp 2np Birp 1sr Birp

fis f - F + fo + .
fie tt eee

tidy 5 LI
CSE =

TRIO OF MEADOWLARKS

All these cases seem to show conclusively that
birds do possess musical appreciation.

Classification of bird songs. It is extremely diffi-
cult to make a classification of bird songs that will
appeal to all people in the same way, but the
following crude grouping is suggested as hinting at
some of the more conspicuous differences in bird
songs: —

Instrumentalists. The first group might be called
“instrumentalists,” as they do not make the sound
with the throat, but with the bill, wings, or an air-
sac. In its general purpose, however, the sound
made corresponds with the songs of the song-birds.
The woodpeckers, the ruffed grouse, and the prairie
chicken belong to this group. The woodpeckers pro-
duce their note by beating on a limb with their bills.
The grouse produces its sound by beating the air
with its wings. The prairie chicken produces his
booming sound by means of air-sacs situated on the
sides of the head.

Syllable songs. A second group of songs may in-
clude those which possess enough similarity to

22 BIRD FRIENDS

spoken syllables so that the bird has been named
from its song. In this group belong such birds as the
chickadee, bob-white, wood pewee, chebec, phoebe,
and whip-poor-will. The songs of these birds are
not very musical, but some are rather pleasing, as
that of the chickadee. No sharp line can be drawn
between these songs and the whistle songs men-
tioned in the next paragraph, as some of these sylla-
ble songs possess the character of a whistle.

Whistle songs. In a third group may be placed
most of the remainder of the song-birds which have
a more or less complex song of a whistled character,
many of which are very musical and pleasing.

Some songs are monotonous, like that of the chip-
ping sparrow; others are varied, like that of the song
sparrow. Some are ringing and loud, like that of the
Baltimore oriole; others are soft and subdued, like
that of the vesper sparrow. Some are unmusical,
like that of the phcebe; others are musical, like that
of the wood thrush.

Among the birds which deserve special mention,
either on account of the variety or the pleasing qual-
ity of their notes, are the house wren, the Baltimore
oriole, the rose-breasted grosbeak, the catbird, the
brown thrasher, the goldfinch, the song sparrow, the
vesper sparrow, the wood thrush, the veery, and the
hermit thrush.

The wren’s song consists of a warble without
much variety, but very cheerful, and given almost

BIRD MUSIC 23

continuously during the day. ‘The grosbeak has a
pleasing warble reminding one of the robin. The
brown thrasher’s notes suggest an orchestra. The
goldfinch has been well named the “wild canary.”
The song of the vesper sparrow has a subdued, rest-
ful character, frequently heard in the late afternoon.
Probably the first place among the bird musicians
should be given to one of the thrushes. There is a
resonant, ringing, penetrating character about their
notes that it is impossible to describe.

Mr. Wilson Flagg writes in his ““A Year with the
Birds”: —

The singing birds with reference to their songs are dis-
tinguishable into four classes: The rapid singers, whose
song is uninterrupted, of considerable length, and deliv-
ered in apparent ecstasy, like the bobolink; the moderate
singers, whose notes are slowly modulated, without
pauses or rests between the different strains, like the
robin and veery; the interrupted singers, who sometimes
modulate their notes with rapidity, but make a distinct
pause after each strain, like the red thrush and hermit
thrush. The fourth class includes birds whose lay con-
sists only of two or three notes, not sufficient to be called
a song, like the bluebird and golden robin.

Variations in songs. A study of bird songs soon
shows that while the songs of different birds of a
given species are much alike in the rhythm, there
is a great variation in different individuals in the
notes used and in the excellence of rendering, so
that the ear trained to bird music soon distinguishes

24 BIRD FRIENDS

different robins and different orioles through their
songs.

There may also be a variation in the song of any
one individual, dependent on age and season. The
first efforts of the young bird to sing are not so near
the type of that species as those which he makes in
later seasons. Again the song of the individual may
change as the season progresses, the song becoming
shorter and shorter till it ceases altogether.

Mr. Oldys reports that he has noted more than
eighty different wood thrush phrases, and he says
that song sparrows’ phrases are more diverse than
those of wood thrushes. A song sparrow has been
known to render twelve distinct themes in fifteen
minutes.

Individual differences are due, not only to the
use of different phrases, but also to the way in which
the phrases are rendered. There may be excellent
rendering and poor rendering of the same phrase
among birds, just as there are varying degrees of
excellence among human voices.

Range of voice. A study of the records made of
bird songs suggests the pitch and range for different
birds. The tones of nearly all birds are high-pitched,
ranging between two and four octaves above middle
C. The range of voice in different species varies
from three notes for the chickadee to two octaves
for the hermit thrush. A number of birds have a
range of about one octave.

BIRD MUSIC 25

Call notes. Besides their songs, birds also make
sounds known as “call notes,” which differ from
their songs in about the same way that human lan-
guage differs from human songs. These call notes
probably serve the purpose of a language by which
birds communicate. They are used by all birds,
both male and female, and at all times of the year.
Some birds have a great variety of call notes, each
representing some emotion, such as a hunger call,
given by the young birds in the nest; the lost call of
a young bird after leaving the nest; the warning call
given to the young to show no signs of life in the face
of danger; the recognition call, by which individuals
of the same species are brought together in flocks,
especially during migration; and the rally cry by
which other birds are brought to the spot. An ob-
server of the crow has recorded twenty-seven dis-
tinct calls for this bird.

CHAPTER II
BIRD HOMES

Courtship. The nesting-season begins with the
courtship of the birds, during which time the birds
mate in preparation for the nest-building and the
rearing of the young. The male is in full song at this
time and frequently performs curious antics as a
means of attracting the attention of a mate. In
some cases it is probable that birds mate for only
one season, while in other cases it is believed that
this mating lasts for life. Some birds, such as pheas-
ants, are polygamous. The author once watched a
male red-winged blackbird which had three mates,
each with a nest and young ones.

Distinguishing characteristics of nests. After the
mating, the next step is the construction of the nest.
Each species builds a characteristic nest similar to
those built by its parents, so that it is possible from
seeing a nest to tell the bird which made it. But
while the nests of birds of the same species are quite
similar, yet there are many individual variations
within these limits set by the species. It is interest-
ing to know that the first time a young bird builds
a nest, it uses the same sort of material, makes the
nest of the same shape, and constructs it in the same

LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN AT NEST

INSIDE OF HOUSE WREN’S NESTING-BOX

BIRD HOMES Q7

manner as did its parents before it, although it has
never seen a nest built.

Time of building. There is a regular time and
order in nest-building as there is in migration,
although the order is not exactly the same. In any
given locality certain kinds of birds begin to nest at
about the same time each year; in some species the
older birds beginning to nest before the younger
ones. Certain birds, like the robin and bluebird, are
always among the first to nest, and other birds, like
the cedar-bird and goldfinch, are always among the
last to nest, and this order of nesting remains the
same from year to year. In the northeastern United
States the first birds begin to nest in February (the
great horned owl), the last begin the latter part of
July (goldfinch), but May is preéminently the nest-
building month. Some birds, like the robin, blue-
bird, and house wren, rear two broods, and this
brings the nesting-season well along into the mid-
dle of the summer. The nesting-dates for a few
common birds are given in the table on pages 61
and 62.

Location of nest. Nests are found in a great va-
riety of places. Many birds nest on the ground.
Some of these, such as the bob-white and bobolink,
build their nests in open fields. Others, such as the
ruffed grouse and hermit thrush, build their nests on
the ground in woods. The oven-bird builds an arched
nest with an entrance on one side. Some birds, such

28 BIRD FRIENDS

as the red-winged blackbird and the marsh wren,
build their nests among the reeds of marshes, a few
feet from the ground. Still others, as the field spar-
row, catbird, chipping sparrow, and many warblers,
build in low shrubberies or small trees. Others, as
the robin, wood thrush, and many hawks, place
their nests in the crotches of trees; while still others,
such as the hummingbird and chebec, saddle them on
to branches. Others hang their nests from branches,
as do the Baltimore oriole and the vireos. The
chimney swift glues the sticks of its nest together
and attaches it to the chimney by means of its
sticky saliva.

Many birds nest in cavities in trees. Some birds,
like the woodpeckers, drill these holes themselves.
Other birds, such as the house wren, bluebird, and
tree swallow, use holes which they find already made,
either by woodpeckers or through decay.

Kingfishers and bank swallows dig tunnels in
banks and rear their young here. These tunnels ex-
tend from three to eleven feet. At the end of the
tunnel the swallow makes an enlargement and con-
structs a nest of straw and feathers, but the king-
fisher usually makes no nest.

The question is often asked whether birds use the
same nest more than once. Birds differ in this re-
spect. John Burroughs divided birds into three
groups. One group, as the bluebird, house wren,
fish hawk, and eagle, repairs the last year’s nest.

BIRD HOMES 29

A second group, including the phcebe, builds a new
nest each season, but may rear more than one brood
in the nest. A third group, which includes most of
our birds, builds a new nest each year and for each
brood when more than one is reared.

Materials. Birds use a great variety of materials
in the construction of their nests. Among the more
common materials are dry grass, rootlets, small
twigs, and hair. Robins and barn swallows use mud.
The Baltimore oriole uses string, yarn, and hair. The
catbird uses strips of bark from the grapevine. The
house wren fills its nesting-cavity with small twigs.
The pheebe constructs its nest of mosses and mud.
Many nests contain materials which man has indi-
rectly furnished, such as strings, yarn, pieces of cloth
and of paper.

The nest is usually lined with a finer, softer ma-
terial than that used in the foundation. The chip-
ping sparrow uses horsehair for a lining, and many
birds use a very fine plant down. The crested fly-
catcher almost invariably puts into its nest a cast-
off snake-skin.

Shape. The shape of the nest of the robin and
chebec has been observed in a number of cases to be
moulded by the breast of the bird, which moves
round and round in the nest fitting it to the breast.

The cavities which woodpeckers make are found
to agree in general shape. This cavity is not simply
a hole of uniform diameter, but it is somewhat flask-

30 BIRD FRIENDS

shaped, gradually growing larger till near the bottom,
and then tapering to a point. The only materials
in the woodpecker’s nest are the chips that happen
to fall down, and the pointed cavity keeps the eggs
from rolling around.

The marsh wren builds a globular nest attached
to the reeds of the marsh and makes an entrance at
one side. So strongly developed is the nesting in-
stinct in this bird that it builds several extra nests
besides the one which it uses.

Time occupied in building. Observations have
been made on birds while building nests and it is
found that the time occupied in building the nest
varies, both with the species of bird and with the
same species at different times. A pair of house
wrens was found to occupy seven days in construct-
ing anest. This nest contained one thousand sticks,
so that about one hundred and fifty sticks were
brought a day, or an average of ten per hour.

Mr. Francis H. Herrick watched a pair of robins
building and found that they completed the nest in
three days. On the first day the birds worked five
hours; on the second, fourteen, and on the third
four and one half, making a total of twenty-three
and one half hours. On the first day, both male and
female worked; on the second and third days, the
female alone. During this time two hundred and
eighteen loads of material were brought to the nest.
On the first day an average of seventeen visits per

YOUNG GREEN HERONS IN NEST

TWO-STORIED NEST OF YELLOW WARBLER

Showing cowbird’s egg sealed in lower nest

* BIRD HOMES 31

hour was made; on the second day, eight visits; and
on the third day, five visits.

Cowbird. The cowbird never makes a nest of her
own, but lays her eggs in the nests of other birds,
and these eggs are usually hatched and the young
reared by the foster mother. These eggs are gener-
ally laid in the nests of birds smaller than the cow-
bird, so that when the eggs hatch, the young cow-
bird gets more than its share of food and gradually
either starves the other nestlings or crowds them out
of the nest, so that the rearing of this parasite usu-
ally means the destruction of all the other nestlings.

There are ninety species of birds on which the
cowbird has been known to impose in this way.
When the young cowbird is full-grown and leaving
the nest, it is a most curious sight to see the little
foster mother feed her adopted baby. Once the
author saw a little mother redstart, a little over
five inches in length, following around and feeding
anearly full-grown cowbird nestling, about eight
inches long. The little mother seemed quite as con-
cerned over her big baby as she would have been
over her own offspring.

There are a number of interesting records showing
how the yellow warbler meets this difficulty. When
she has found a cowbird’s egg in her nest, she has
been known to make another nest on top of the first,
thus sealing up the intruder’s egg, and then to lay
her eggs and rear her young in the second story.

32 BIRD FRIENDS

And when the cowbird has visited the nest again and
laid her egg in this second nest, the warbler has been
known to build a third nest on top of the other and
there rear her young, in the third story. This action
certainly strongly suggests some degree of intelli-
gence on the part of the warbler.

Number of broods. The general rule among birds
is that one brood is reared each season, but a num-
ber of common birds, such as the robin, bluebird,
and wren, rear two, and perhaps occasionally three
broods; and the English sparrow has been known to
rear six broods in a season.

Change in nesting-habits. Many birds have
changed their nesting-habits to adapt themselves
to the conditions brought about by man. Chimney
swifts, which formerly nested in hollow trees, now
nest in chimneys. Cliff swallows now nest under
eaves instead of on cliffs. The purple martin has
left its nesting-sites in hollow trees and now nests al-
most entirely in houses provided for it. The phabe
has largely abandoned its nesting-place on the face
of cliffs and now nests around sheds and barns and
under bridges. Many birds which formerly nested in
cavities now nest in boxes provided for them. The
most common occupants of these houses are wrens,
bluebirds, and martins,

CHAPTER IV
HOME LIFE OF BIRDS

The eggs. The most common colors found among
birds’ eggs are white and various shades of brown and
blue. It seems to be a general rule that eggs which
are laid in cavities, where they are not easily seen,
like the woodpeckers’, are white; and those which
are laid in more exposed positions take on some
brighter color. But there are exceptions to these
generalizations. Some eggs are of a uniform color,
while others are spotted or mottled. The number
of eggs laid varies from one to twenty. For most of
our common land-birds the number ranges from four
to six.

Incubation. The period of incubation ranges from
twelve days for a small bird like the chipping spar-
row to twenty-eight days for a large bird like the
osprey. The larger the egg, the longer the time usu-
ally required for incubation. The work of incubation
is done chiefly by the female, but in some cases the
male may help, or the male may feed the female on
the nest. While the female is incubating the eggs,
one of the chief duties of the male is to drive away
any intruding birds or animals that may come within
a certain distance.

34 BIRD FRIENDS

Condition of young at birth. For the most part
the lower forms of birds are precocial, the young
being ready to walk when first hatched; the higher
forms are altricia]l, the young being helpless and re-
quiring the care of the parents. This constant care
of the young is a sign of advancement among all
animals. Probably the first birds were all precocial
and some gradually evolved the altricial habit.

Time in nest. The time that the altricial birds
remain in the nest varies with the size of the birds.
In general the larger birds remain longer in the nest
than do the smaller birds. In the case of the song
sparrow, the young may leave the nest at the end of
a week, while some birds may remain several months
in the nest; but for most of our common birds the
time averages about two weeks.

The following tables give in brief form some facts
regarding the nesting-habits of a few birds. These
figures represent observations made of a particular
pair of birds. Observations on other birds of the
same species would doubtless give different figures.
But these results give at least an approximate idea
of the time involved in these various activities. The
incompleteness of this table suggests how many
things are yet to be learned about the habits of our
common birds.

The work of the parent birds in rearing their young
consists chiefly in three activities: feeding the young,
cleaning the nest, and brooding the young.

HOME LIFE OF BIRDS 35

Cedar-bird.. 2 4 4 10 14
Bluebird..... 7 3 3 15 19
Kingbird 4 13 18
Kingfisher 5 25
Nighthawk... 1 18
Baltimore

oriole... .. 7 5 14 14
Robin....... 8 3 14 12
Phoebe 5 12 14
Song sparrow. 4 5 12 zi
English spar- ;

TOW....... 5 ae
Wood thrush. 4 12
House wren. . vi 7 7 13 17

Feeding the young. Birds eat enormous amounts
of food and grow with remarkable rapidity. Obser-
vations made on young birds show that they may
eat their own weight of food in a day and increase in
weight fifty per cent. One observer watched a nest
of cedar waxwings and weighed the young each day
till they left the nest. He found that the weight of
one nestling was doubled on the first day, more than
trebled on the second, and nearly quadrupled on the
third. By the twelfth day it had increased in weight
thirteen fold, and was nearly three times as long as
when first hatched.

The parents usually begin to feed the young at
about sunrise und continue till sunset, making a
working day of about fifteen hours. Observations

36 BIRD FRIENDS

show that on the average many birds feed their
young about every four minutes, or about two hun-
dred times a day.

In order to convey some idea of the vast amount
of food consumed by nestlings, a table is given below
showing the number of times the young are fed
hourly, during the day, as learned from actual ob-
servation. The number of visits varies with the age
of nestlings, as they are generally fed oftenér when
nearly fledged than when first hatched.

Times family 7 Age o
Name of bird fed none | Number a,
eae of nestlings (days)
Red-winged blackbird 10 3 10
Bluebird tec: cacsecse 13 3 5
Catbitd 2s cec2 er: aes 13 4 uh
Cedar-bird........... 6 4 9
Rose-breasted gros-
Beales. sses1 canes 40 4 Not recorded
Kingbird 36325 ese ned 23 4 12
19 4 10
17 2 4
7 3 9
7 4 7
14 6 13
Red-eyed vireo....... 7 2 7
House wren.......... 19 4 3
Average......... 15

Kind of food. The kind of food fed the young is
usually the same kind that the adults use, which for
most birds is insects, but in the case of the seed-eat-
ing birds, like sparrows, the young are fed at first

HOME LIFE OF BIRDS 37

almost exclusively on insects. The most common
kinds of food are caterpillars, spiders, and grass-
hoppers. Some birds feed fruit to their young, the
kingfishers feed fish,and hawks and owls feed mice
and other rodents.

Large insects are frequently broken into smaller
pieces by the parents before being fed to the young.
Some birds, like the hummingbird and flicker, feed
their young by regurgitation. The food is first par-
tially digested in the crop or stomach of the parent
bird and then fed to the young by the parent bird’s
inserting its bill far into the mouth of the nestling.
As a prevention against overfeeding, young birds
have an instinctive response in the throat. The
parents place the food in the throat, and if the
gullet is already full, the throat does not respond,
and the parent removes the food and puts it into
the throat of another, till one is found which does
respond.

Cleaning the nest. Another duty of the parents is
to keep the nest clean. The excreta of the young are
voided in membranous sacs, and these are either
removed by the parent or swallowed.

Brooding. During hot days birds may frequently
be seen brooding their young. They stand with
spreading wings and tail shielding the young from
the sun’s rays, often themselves panting with wide-
opened bills. During hot days this may occupy a
large portion of the bird’s time, the bird sometimes

38 BIRD FRIENDS

remaining for a period of forty minutes without leav-
ing. In the same way the birds may protect their
young from rain.

A house wren’s day. In order to give some idea
of the activities of birds while rearing their young,
the following account of a day’s observations of a
pair of house wrens is given.

During the summer of 1913 the class in nature-
study at the Mankato State Normal School kept a
detailed record for one day of the feeding activities
of a pair of house wrens which reared their young in
a nesting-house located on the writer’s grounds. The
class was divided into ten sections and each section
watched the birds for an hour and a half. The
young wrens were two days old. The day was a
typical, clear summer day with the temperature 67
degrees at 4 o’clock a.m. In the afternoon there was
a heavy shower.

The observations began at 4 A.m., a half-hour be-
fore sunrise, and extended till 8.20 p.m., a half-hour
after sunset. The birds began to feed their young at
4.36, three minutes before sunrise, and continued
till 7.58, thirteen minutes after sunset, thus making
a working day of fifteen hours and twenty-two min-
utes. At the end of the day the records were summar-
ized with the following results: The young birds were
fed two hundred and thirty-eight times, two hun-
dred and eighteen by the female, eighteen by the
male, and on two visits the sex was not deter-

A WREN MOTHER AND HER FAMILY

MOTHER WORKS WHILE FATHER SINGS

Pair of house wrens

HOME LIFE OF BIRDS 39

mined. The following table shows the summary by
hours: —

Sex unde-
Hour By female | By male | ined Total

6 0 6

20 1 21

17 0 17

14 1 15

15 0 2 17

19 2 21

14 0 14

12 1 13

17 2 19

10 1 11

17 2 19

13 4 17

16 1 17

8 0 8

10 1 11

10 2 12

otal is dee oa aheiiaes 218 18 2 238
Average per hour...... 14 1 15

The longest time between any two consecutive
feedings was twelve minutes, except during the
shower, when a period of sixteen minutes elapsed.
The shortest time between two consecutive feedings
by the same parent was one half-minute. The male
was singing most of the day. Frequently he sang
with an insect in his closed bill, sometimes waiting
several minutes before feeding the young. Three
times during the day he drove away a red squirrel,
and once another wren.

During the remainder of the time that the young
were in the nest, they were watched occasionally

40 BIRD FRIENDS

from day to day for short periods, with the follow-
ing results: —

Number of times fed
Age of Nest
Date Time young cleaned
(days) By By Sex (times)
fe- dle un- | Total
male | ™ known
July 4] 12- 1pm. 5 12 7 ote 19 AS
July 6 | 12- 1pm. 4 EL 3 2 16 6
July 11 5— 6 P.M. 12 12 10 a 25 5
July 13 9-10 a.m. 14 10 12 es 22 6
July 13 1- 2PM. 14 11 10 ah 21 4
July 13 4-5 PM. 14 8 6 g 16 4
July 13 6- 7 P.M. 14 10 10 sue 20 ¢g

On July 14 the young birds left the nest.

As shown by the above table, on July 13, when
the young were fourteen days old, the birds were
watched for four hours at different times of the day,
showing an average of nineteen and three fourths
feedings per hour. For the day of fifteen hours, this
would mean three hundred and three times per day.
Taking the average between this and two hundred
and thirty-eight, the times the young were fed when
two days old, we get two hundred and seventy times
as the average number of times the young were fed
daily during the period they were in the nest. Mul-
tiplying this by fifteen, the number of days the
young were in the nest, gives four thousand and
fifty as the total number of times the young were fed.
As the parent often brought more than one insect

HOME LIFE OF BIRDS 41

at a visit, the rearing of this wren family meant the
destruction of from four to five thousand insects.

The largest number of times the young were fed
in an hour was twenty-five, immediately after a
storm when the young were twelve days old. The
smallest number of times was eight during a heavy
shower when the birds were two days old.

During the first days of rearing the young, most
of the feeding was done by the female alone, but later
more assistance was given by the male, until on the
last day the work was about equally divided be-
tween them.

During the summer of 1914, a pair of Baltimore
orioles was watched in a similar way for a day. The
parents began to feed at 4.45 a.m., and finished at
8.45 P.M., a period of sixteen hours. Altogether the
young were fed two hundred and eighty-five times,
one hundred and fifty-four by the female and one
hundred and thirty-one by the male, or an average
of nineteen times an hour.

Devotion of parents. While caring for their
young, birds show a most remarkable devotion, sel-
dom deserting their nest, regardless of what may
happen. They show reckless courage in trying to
protect their young from intruders, sometimes even
striking a person with their bills.

Care after leaving the nest. After the young
leave the nest, they must be taught many lessons
before they are able to care for themselves. One of

42 BIRD FRIENDS

the first lessons learned is how to fly. The parents
will often hold the food in front of the young and fly
from branch to branch to induce the young to do the
same. The young must also be taught where to find
their own food and how to pick it up. When the
young first leave the nest, they do not even know
how to pick up an insect. If food is brought and
placed beside them, they stand with heads thrown
back and mouths wide open, expecting to be fed
as they always have been while in the nest, and
make no attempt to pick up the food. The parents
teach the young by doing the action over and over
again before them, and then leaving the young be-
side the food for a long time. And besides these
there are many other lessons the young birds must
learn.

This period of schooling is very brief, probably
only a few weeks, and in the case of birds that rear
two broods, the first brood is hardly properly taught
before the second brood is started.

Enemies. During the time that the young are in
the nest and for a short time just after leaving it, the
birds are exposed to many dangers and fall victims
to their many enemies. Probably only a small pro-
portion of young birds ever reach maturity. From
the time the first egg is laid, the difficulties arise.
Some enemies destroy the eggs; such as the crow,
blue jay, and red squirrel. And sometimes boy egg-
collectors may devastate a whole neighborhood.

HOME LIFE OF BIRDS 43

When the young are hatched, they are utterly help-
less and fall a prey to any enemy that can reach the
nest. Undoubtedly the worst enemy of nesting birds
is the cat. It finds the nests on the ground and
climbs to nests situated in trees, and easily catches
the young birds just as they are learning to fly, and
may even kill the old birds while they are defending
their young. Another very destructive enemy is the
squirrel, which is able to reach almost any nest.
Then, too, many birds are destroyed by unfavorable
weather, by hailstorms and cold rainstorms, which
chill the birds and reduce the food-supply to the star-
vation point. Ground-nesting birds on the farm are
exposed to the dangers of mowing and other farm
operations. Mr. Frank M. Chapman has well said,
“With such an array of adverse conditions and re-
lentless foes, the bird which reaches maturity may
be said to have escaped nine tenths of the dangers
to which bird flesh is heir.”

CHAPTER V
THE COLORS AND PLUMAGE OF BIRDS

Moulting of scarlet tanager. The bright colors of
plumage found on some birds have been one means
of attracting attention to the study of bird life.
Quite as interesting as the bright colors themselves
are the changes in color through which a bird may
pass during a year. The case of the scarlet tanager
may be taken as an illustration. When the young
bird first leaves the nest, its general color is vellow-
ish green above and streaked below. During the fall
these feathers are moulted and a new set appears,
the bird being olive green above and greenish yellow
below, with brown wings and tail. The bird passes
the winter in this plumage, that of the male and
female being similar. In the spring the bird again
moults and the male acquires the bright-red body
feathers, while the female retains its olive-green color.
These are the breeding-plumages which the birds re-
tain during the summer. In the fall the birds moult
again and the male again acquires the greenish plum-
age of the previous winter except that its wings and
tail are now black instead of brown.

Moulting. All birds moult in the fall, and when
the male in his summer plumage is more brightly

COLORS AND PLUMAGE OF BIRDS 45

colored than the female, he takes on during the win-
ter a duller color similar to that of the female. Some
birds moult again in the spring, as in the case of the
brightly colored birds just mentioned, when the male
again acquires his bright breeding-plumage. Some-
times this moult is complete, sometimes only par-
tial.

Change due to wear. A bird’s color may also
change by wear and fading. The tip of a feather may
be of a different color from the rest of the feather,
and when this tip wears off, another color will be ex-
posed. When the male bobolink first moults in the
spring, it is of a yellowish color, due to yellow tips
on the feathers. In a few weeks these yellow tips
wear off exposing the black and giving the bird its
characteristic summer plumage. Other illustrations
-are found in the snow bunting and red-winged
blackbird.

Changes in color. The color of an individual bird
may change in accordance with two factors, age and
season. The plumage of the nestling is often differ-
ent in color from that which it later acquires. When
the male and female are differently colored, the
young usually resemble the female, as with the gold-
finch and scarlet tanager. In the case of the blue-
bird, however, the young birds have spotted breasts
and resemble neither of the adults entirely, although
even here the general color is similar to that of the
female. When the male and female are alike, the

46 BIRD FRIENDS

young usually resemble them, as in the case of the
chickadee. But in the case of the red-headed wood-
pecker, the young lack the brightly colored feathers
that both adults possess on the head.

The color of a bird may also change according to
season. In the case of those birds in which the male
and female are differently colored, the male has two
distinct plumages, that of the summer, which is usu-
ally conspicuously colored, and that of the winter,
which is usually dull-colored. And during the two
moulting periods when the bird is changing from one
plumage to another, it may show a partial combina-
tion of both plumages.

Differences in sex. Some species of birds show a
difference in color between the male and the female.
Sometimes this difference may be slight, as in the
yellow warbler, Baltimore oriole, and bluebird, in-
volving only different shades of the same color; or
it may be extremely conspicuous, involving an entire
change of color, as with the red-winged blackbird
and its sparrow-like mate, the scarlet tanager and
its greenish mate, the rose-breasted grosbeak and its
brownish mate. Other examples are the indigo
bunting, goldfinch, and bobolink.

Protective coloration. Naturalists are not agreed
as to the significance of the extremely bright colors
found on some birds, but it seems to be a very gen-
eral law that the coloring of many birds is such as
to render them inconspicuous and thus furnish pro-

BALTIMORE ORIOLE

Upper, male; lower, female

COLORS AND PLUMAGE OF BIRDS 47

tection from their enemies; hence the term, “‘pro-
tective coloration.” Many birds that live on the
ground, such as the ruffed grouse and woodcock, are
so similar in appearance to their surroundings that
the birds are rendered almost invisible.

Many birds are protected by the law of coun-
ter-shading. The back which is exposed to the light,
is darker than the breast, which is in the shadow, and
the sides gradually shade from dark above to light
below. The effect of this gradation in coloring is to
make the bird so harmonize with its surroundings
that it is rendered much less conspicuous than it
would otherwise be. It is very common to find birds
with the under parts lighter colored than the upper
parts; such as the house wren, phoebe, red-eyed
vireo, cuckoo, and many others. This law has been
worked out and proved by means of interesting ex-
periments by Abbott H. Thayer.

CHAPTER VI
HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS

Attractions of bird-study. The only way really to
know the birds is to study them in the field in their
natural environment. Bird-study furnishes one of
the most attractive hobbies. The pleasure that
birds furnish in this way makes their esthetic value
quite as important as their economic value. Bird ac-
tivities pass through so many changes in the course
of a year that there is no opportunity for bird-
study to become monotonous. Then, too, bird-study
takes one out into the fields, in the open, so that the
setting in which bird-study is carried on is in itself
attractive. While the individuals of a species
change, the species remains about the same to us,
and thus we come to associate with certain birds
some of our pleasantest reminiscences. People and
conditions in our former homes may change, but as
we return to visit these scenes of our younger days,
the bird life remains unchanged to welcome us and
remind us of former days.

While special trips to the woods and water to look
for birds offer many pleasant hours, yet, perhaps,
the greatest pleasure from bird-study comes through
the observation of the birds found around one’s

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 49

home, as one sits on the porch and watches the wrens
and bluebirds rear their young in the houses pro-
vided for them, or sees the robins and flickers that
dot the lawn in search of insects, or hears the bird
chorus that swells through the open window as one
awakens in the early spring morn. The pleasure
thus derived is the lasting, unconscious enjoyment
that becomes an intimate part of one’s life.

Birds also appeal to the imagination on account of
the annual cycle of life changes through which they
pass over and over again year after year. It seems
as though every spring birds were reborn and lived
their lives over again, so that youth seems forever
renewed with the return of the first birds.

There are all stages of attainment possible to suit
every condition, from the identifying of a few birds
in the field up to the most careful study of bird hab-
its, which may occupy one’s entire time. One of the
most satisfactory methods of studying bird life is to
observe close at hand in one’s yard the birds that
may be attracted there by nesting-houses, foun-
tains, and food. This will be discussed more fully in
the chapters on attracting birds.

Identification. The first step in bird-study is the
identification of birds. Learning a bird’s name is
much like an introduction to a person; it is a means
by which a new friendship may be formed. But there
is a great deal of pleasure in merely learning to name
the birds. Many people will never care to go beyond

50 BIRD FRIENDS

this point in bird-study. The ability to name the
birds from year to year as they return in the spring
is one of the chief pleasures in bird-study, and gives
a sort of feeling of friendship for the birds. But
in the process of learning the names of birds, one
of necessity learns many interesting things about
them. There is a sort of fascination to see if one can
learn to name all the birds of a locality. It serves as an
incentive from year to year, as one recognizes the old
friends, to try each year to make a few new friends,
as well as to get better acquainted with the old.

Equipment. In order to name the birds, the first
essential is a bird book. There is a great variety of
books on the market adapted to every requirement.
For the purpose of identification the most helpful
books are those that contain colored pictures. For
a beginner in bird-study, who knows only a few
birds, Reed’s “ Land Birds” is well adapted. This
contains a small colored picture of every land bird
in the eastern United States, accompanied by a brief
description of the bird. This is a small book and
can easily be carried in the field. Mr. Reed has a
companion volume entitled ‘‘ Water Birds,” on the
same general plan. These books cost from seventy-
five cents to one dollar and a quarter, according to
the binding.

After one has made a beginning and can name
twenty-five or thirty birds, an excellent book for
general reference is Chapman’s “Handbook of Birds

TOWHEE, OR CHEWINK
Upper, male; lower, female

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 51

of Eastern North America.” This contains a de-
tailed description of all the birds of eastern North
America, and about one hundred pages of reading
matter about bird habits. This costs three dollars
and a half. Another helpful book for identification
is Ralph Hoffmann’s ‘“‘Guide to the Birds of New
England and Eastern New York.”

Provided with these books one may hope to
name most of the common birds. These and other
bird books may be obtained through bookstores or
through the National Association of Audubon So-
cieties, 1974 Broadway, New York City.

Tf one has access to a museum with a collection of
birds, the study of the specimens there will be a great
help in identifying the birds found in the field, but
pictures may serve as a satisfactory substitute.
Separate colored plates of birds may be obtained of
the Association of Audubon Societies, just men-
tioned, at two cents each. The pictures of about
ninety birds have been issued so far and new ones
are being made each year.

A pair of opera- or field-glasses is a wonderful help
to bird-study. Some birds are easily frightened, and
often it is not possible to approach near enough to
see them distinctly without glasses. Many of our
common birds have become accustomed to man and
allow one to approach them closely, but glasses add
much pleasure to bird-study and render it much
more effective and satisfactory. A very good glass,

52 BIRD FRIENDS

magnifying three diameters, may be obtained for
six dollars from the National Association of Audu-
bon Societies.

Points to observe. Color is the best aid in the
identification of birds in the field. When a new bird
is seen, a record should be made at the time, in a
notebook provided for the purpose, of the color
markings and their location, whether on head, back,
tail, wings, or breast. The size should be noted in
comparison with some well-known bird, like the
robin or English sparrow. The shape of the bill is
also a help in identification. Shapes of wings and
peculiarities in method of flight should be noted.
Some birds are on the wing almost constantly.

Some birds have white lateral tail feathers, which
show only in flight, and these make good field marks
for identification. These are found on the vesper
sparrow, junco, meadowlark, and towhee.

Some birds are usually found on tree-trunks; as
the woodpeckers, the nuthatch, and the brown
creeper. The nuthatch can be told by its method of
hopping down the tree-trunk head first.

One of the best ways of identifying birds is
through their songs. Birds can thus be identified
at a long distance and when hidden in the foliage
of trees and shrubs. It is difficult to make a record
of these songs that will help any one else, but some
record made at the time may help the one making
it in identifying the bird later.

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 53

Many birds have one or two conspicuous field
marks by which they may be identified. So that it
is not necessary to make a detailed description of
every part of all birds seen, as one soon comes to
learn these conspicuous markings and to name the
birds from them.

Where to find birds. The best place to begin the
study of birds is right around one’s own home, if this
be situated in the country or a small town, or on the
edge of a city. Many birds prefer to live around
human habitations if the houses are not too thickly
crowded together. If measures are taken to attract
birds and if they are protected from their enemies,
the number of birds found around one’s home may
be increased. The birds found here one may enjoy
at all times without undertaking any special bird
trips. If one lives in a city, the parks are good
places in which to study birds, especially during
the spring migration. In the Boston Public Gar-
den, one hundred and ten species have been re-
ported in nine years; in Lincoln Park, Chicago, one
hundred and fourteen species have been seen; and
in Central Park, New York City, one hundred and
forty species have been recorded. In alittle book by
Herbert-E. and Alice H. Walter, entitled ‘“‘ Wild Birds
in City Parks,” the authors write in their preface: —

Any one caring to make use of these hints may be
assured that during the migrations of the birds, city
dwellers have one of the keenest delights of country life

54 BIRD FRIENDS

brought to their very doors, because many birds, migrat-
ing largely at night, are attracted by the lights of the city
and stop off in their long journey to feed, so that a city
park often contains a greater variety of feathered visitors
than an equal area in the country.

One will see a greater variety of birds if he visits
a number of different localities. Some birds have
certain habitats where they are chiefly found. In the
swamps are found water-birds, which are not often
found elsewhere. In the woods one is more apt to
see the vireos, warblers, and some of the thrushes.
In the meadows are found the bobolinks and some
of the sparrows. The orchard is a locality where a
great variety of birds may be found.

When to find birds. A good time to begin the
study of birds is in the late winter or early spring.
The number of birds seen at this time is compara-
tively small, and it is not so confusing to the beginner
as it is later when the birds are numerous. By start-
ing at this time one may learn a few birds at a time
and keep increasing the number as the later mi-
grants arrive. Another advantage in beginning at
this time is that the birds can easily be seen, because
there is no foliage to conceal them. Later in the
season, when the leaves have developed, it is much
more difficult to see them.

The spring is the most interesting season to study
birds. It is the season of bird song and of nesting,
and birds render themselves very conspicuous at

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 55

this time. Later, when home duties begin, there is
less singing and birds are more wary about exposing
themselves. June, when the nesting-season is at its
height, is also an interesting month for bird-study.
During the late summer, birds are moulting, and re-
main quiet and concealed, so that it is a discouraging
season for bird-study. Then during the fall follows
a more active period when the fall migration is un-
der way. During the winter there is opportunity to
study at close hand the winter birds that may be
attracted by food. ,

The best time of the day to study birds is in the
early morning up to about nine o’clock, as this is
the time when birds are most active and do most of
their singing. The next best time is in the late after-
noon.

How to study birds. In order that one may be
most successful in finding birds, a few precautions
need to be observed. Loud noises should be avoided,
as should quick, sudden movements. It is well
sometimes to seat one’s self in one place and remain
quiet for some time, to find the birds that may be
seen in that one locality. Birds may be attracted by
making a sort of squeak, which is made by kissing
the back of the hand vigorously. This will often
bring out birds whose presence had not been sus-
pected.

Every season of the year has something new in the
line of bird activities, so that there is a constant

56 BIRD FRIENDS

variety of interesting things to attract one’s atten-
tion.

What to study. Beginning in the early spring-
time and continuing till the last of May, one may
keep a record of the spring migration. In its sim-
plest form this may consist of two columns giving
the name of the bird and the date when first seen.
To this may be added as many more points as one
wishes, such as place where seen, number, etc.
These records may be kept in the following tabular
form: —

Name of bird Date when Place where Number seen

first seen seen

It is interesting to spend all of a day or a part
of a day during May in the field, to see how many
birds one can find in a day. This is the season when
one can find the greatest number in the northern
United States, as it may include permanent and
summer residents and transient visitants.

Songs. Shortly after birds arrive in the spring,
they are in full song, and this bird music forms one of
the most attractive features for study. Some of the
things that may be noted are the time of day when
the song is given, length of singing-season, character
of song, its variety, pitch, quality, location of bird
when given, and whether given on the wing. Some
brief description of the song written in a notebook

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 57

will help fix it more firmly in the mind. Any of the
methods described in Chapter II may be used, or
simply a description in words may be given. An-
other interesting study is to begin just before sun-
rise some morning in May, and note the order in
which the different birds begin to sing, and the order
in which they leave off as the day progresses. Like-
wise the order of beginning and stopping in the late
afternoon.

Nesting-habits. The nesting-season offers oppor-
tunity for the closest observation of birds. Many
things may be learned which have never before been
recorded. Some things that may be observed are
the location of the nest, materials used in making it,
work done by male and female, length of time re-
quired to build, number and color of eggs, time of
incubation, number of times young are fed in an
hour, kind of food brought, how the work is divided
between male and female, time young remain in
nest, care of young after leaving nest.

During the height of the nesting-season, about the
middle of June, a list may be made of all the birds
seen for a week, which will include those birds that
nest in a locality, as by this time the transient visit-
ants have departed.

The United States Bureau of Biological Survey
has begun to have annual censuses taken by volun-
teer bird-students throughout the United States, so
that some definite information may be obtained re-

58 BIRD FRIENDS

garding the number of birds and the need for their
protection and increase. Details of how this census
is to be made may be obtained by writing to the
Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, D.C.

Winter birds. During the winter, birds may be
attracted around the home by means of food
placed on trees and shelves and even on the window-
sill, and thus an opportunity offered to study birds
through the window even in the coldest weather.
Different kinds of food may be tried to see which
each bird likes best and which foods birds will eat.
The habits of the birds in approaching the food and
in eating it are interesting to watch.

Christmas census. It has been the custom of
** Bird-Lore”’ to invite its readers to make a bird
census on Christmas Day and to send the list of
birds seen to “Bird-Lore.”’ These lists are published
in the next issue of the magazine. Below is a sam-
ple record taken from the January-February issue,
1915: —

Eagle Bend, Minn.— Dec. 24; 10 am. to 4 PM.
Clear; about 3 in. of snow; no wind; temp.—5°. Bob-
white, 12; Ruffed Grouse, 4; Pileated Woodpecker, 2;
Hairy Woodpecker, 4; Downy Woodpecker, 3; Evening
Grosbeak, 10; White-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Black-capped
Chickadee, 11. Total, 8 species, 48 individuals.

In the census for 1914 the greatest number of
birds was reported from Santa Barbara, California;
108 species, 7269 individuals; the smallest number

Location

Date. Hour

Weather Wind.

SIZE: Between sparrow and robin
Smaller than wren Between robin and crow
Between wren and sparrow Larger than crow

SEEN: Bushy places Swamp

Near ground or High up Orchard Open country
In Heavy woods Garden Near water
Name

Order Family

Genus. Species

COLORS:

1 Black 6 Chestnut 11 Gray

2 White 7 Yellow 12 Slate

3 Blue 8 Orange 13 Rusty

4 Red 9 Green 14 White washed
5 Brown 10 Olive green with yellow

REMARKS:

(Such as wing bars, white in tail, eye ring, shape of bill, marks on head, notes
or song, characteristic movements, details of nest.)

[On the outline on the preceding page numbers are
to be placed in accordance with the table above to
show the kind and location of colors.]

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 59

from Buffalo, New York, 4 species, 8 individuals.
In the northern part of the United States the num-
ber was smaller than in the southern part. The aver-
age number of species reported from the northern
sections ranged from 7 to 15.

A number of bird notebooks are published in
which one may record his observations, for the
purpose of identification. Opposite is a sample leaf
from a book sold for fifteen cents by the National
Association of Audubon Societies, New York City.

Bird photography. Another means of studying
birds which some people employ with much pleas-
ure is to photograph them. All kinds of outfits may
be used, from the ordinary focusing camera with an
ordinary lens up to the most expensive reflex camera
with the best kind of lens. As birds are small, the
camera must be placed near in order to get an image
of sufficient size, and hence the camera must be
provided with a long draw of bellows and a long-
focus lens.

In order that the birds may come near enough to
the camera so that a satisfactory picture may be
secured, it is usually necessary to work the shutter
from a distance. One of the simplest methods is to
use a spool of linen thread. The thread is fastened
to the shutter and then this may be worked by pull-
ing the thread from any desired distance. Sometimes
birds will become so tame that one may stand by the
camera and take pictures, as when photographing

60 BIRD FRIENDS

from inside the window birds feeding on a window-
sill.

The two best seasons for photographing birds are
the spring and summer, when the birds are nesting,
and the winter, when they come to eat food pro-
vided for them. If one attracts birds around his
home, he will find many opportunities for photo-
graphing them. The birds that use nesting-boxes
become tame and may easily be photographed after
the young are hatched, as the parents enter and leave
the box. One may watch the birds to see how they
approach and where they usually alight, and then
the camera may be focused on this spot, and when
the bird is in the right position, the thread may be
pulled.

Likewise, the winter birds become very tame,
coming to the window shelf for food, and the camera
may be set up just inside the window and the picture
taken through the window-pane. A little patience
will often enable one to secure a picture of a bird
feeding from the hand. During one winter the au-
thor was able to secure pictures of the nine following
species: chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, downy
woodpecker, brown creeper, blue jay, hermit thrush,
myrtle warbler, junco, and song sparrow. Pictures
of all except the junco were obtained at the window-
sill. Pictures of the chickadee feeding from the hand
were secured.

Besides these pictures of birds that nest in boxes

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 61

there will be many opportunities of photographing
the nests and eggs of other birds and the parents
feeding their young.

Many people are now using the camera instead of
the gun, and it is found that the use of the camera
requires much more skill and patience than the use
of the gun, and gives one more pleasure and does no
harm to the birds. For this kind of hunting there is
no closed season.

As a matter of convenience for reference, the fol-
lowing table of fifty common birds is given, showing
the dates of migration and nesting for the vicinity
of New York City as found in Chapman’s “Hand-
book of Birds.” These dates are earlier for regions
farther south and later for those farther north: — |

CHART OF FIFTY COMMON BIRDS
(Latitude of New York City)

PERMANENT RESIDENTS

Name Date of nesting
Bobwhite. oso: veanceniadides dateeeiieed eae need May, 4th week
Chickadee: «212.0 cucncwanacvee sass ee eequ same ee cess ee May, 3d week
CrOWe Seis ee gs Sea sarancaland e's o's Svlebagersee nie ware sets April, 2d week
Goldfinch. vis00 ss ca guxicg she sea memes tees Soe June, 3d week
Blue Jaye cis.co.0-5 cease at's «so teeta ee See ss May, 2d week
White-breasted nuthatch.......... 00. cece ee eee eee April, 3d week
Downy woodpecker...........200eeeceeeeeecer rere May, 3d week

Winter Resipents

Name Date of arrival Date of departure
Brown creeper. .........-++-+ Sept. 20-30........ April 1-30
J UNCOs cise cs se Se Aas ee ee Sept. 20-30........ April 10-May 10
White-throated sparrow........ Sept. 20-30........ May 1-25

Tree sparrow... .. eee eee eee ee Oct. 20-31........ April 1-30

62 BIRD FRIENDS

Sumuer RESIDENTS

(Arranged in the order of their arrival in spring)
Name Date of arrival Date of nesting Date of
departure

Song sparrow...... Feb. 15—March 10. . April, 4th week... Nov. 1-30
Bliekers cnet eee Feb. 15—March 10. .May, Ist week...Nov. 1-30
Crow blackbird... ..Feb. 15-March 10. .April, 4th week... Nov. 1-30
Red-winged black-

bird cicictscte sesees Feb. 15—-March 10.. May, 3d week...Nov. 1-30
Robin esses ees ss Feb. 15—March 10. .April, 3d week...Nov. 1-30
Bluebirds siaivese ios Feb. 15—March 10. . April, 2d week...Nov. 1-30
Phoobet oss cassis dss « March 10-20...... April, 4th week...Oct. 20-30
Meadowlark....... March 10-20...... May, 3d week....Nov. 1-30
Gowbird. .s< 6 sess March 10-20...... May, Ist week...Nov. 1-30

(In other nests)

Kingfisher......... March 20-31...... May, Ist week...Nov. 1-30
Mourning dove... . March 20-31...... April, 4th week... Nov. 1-30
Vesper sparrow....April 1-10........ May, 2d week....Nov. 1-30
Chipping sparrow. .April 1-10........ May, 2d week....Nov. 1-30
Barn swallow...... April 10-20........ May, 2d week....Oct. 1-10
Chimney swift..... April 20-30. ....... May, 4th week...Oct. 1-10
Towhee........... April 20-30 .. May, 2d week... .Oct. 20-30
Purple martin..... April 20-30........ May, 4th week...Sept. 20-30
Oven-bird......... April 20-30 ..May, 3d week. ...Oct. 1-10
House wren....... April 20-30........ May, 3d week... .Oct. 10-20
Brown thrasher. ... April 20-30........ May, 3d week....Oct. 10-20
Catbird: vccassdax< April 20-30........ May, 3d week... .Oct. 10-20
Wood thrush...... April 20-30........ May, 3d week....Oct. 1-10
Cuck00 .35..c. 4d; May: IQs cesaciss May, 4th week...Oct. 1-10
Nighthawk........ May 1-10........ June, Ist week. ..Oct. 10-20
Hummingbird..... May 1-10........ May, 2d week... .Sept. 20-30
Kingbird.......... May 1-10. .. May. 4th week...Sept. 20-30
Baltimore oriole....May 1-10........ May, 4th week. ..Sept. 10-20
Bobolink.......... May 1-10........ May, 4th week...Oct. 1-10
Indigo bunting.....May 1-10........ May, 4th week...Oct. 1-10
Rose-breasted gros-

Gabe ce nes alone: May 1-10........ May, 3d week... .Sept. 20-30
Scarlet tanager..... May J=10) cxcsncs June, lst week...Oct. 1-10
Red-eyed vireo..... May: 1-10. esac May, 4th week...Oct. 10-20
Warbling vireo.....May 1-10........ May, 4th week...Sept. 20-30
Yellow warbler..... May 1-10........ May, 3d week... .Sept. 10-20
Maryland yellow-

ENLOSb = grails = May 1-10........ May, 4th week. ..Oct. 10-20
Redstart.......... May 1-10........ May, 3dweek....Oct. 1-10
NSCT TGs. <4 wnsersni vane May 1-10........ May, 3d week... .Sept. 20-30
Wood pewee....... May 10=20 vciccsieee June, Ist week. .. .Sept. 20-30
Marsh wren....... May 10-20........ May, 4th week...Oct. 10-20

CHAPTER VII

FRIENDS AMONG THE BIRDS AS DESTROYERS
OF INSECT PESTS

Tue practical value of birds to man, whether
helpful or harmful, depends chiefly on their food
habits. Some of their food consists of things injuri-
ous to man, such as insect pests, weed seeds, and
rodent pests, while some consists of things valuable
to man, such as fruit and grain: so that the exact
economic status of a bird is determined by a careful
study of its food habits.

The United States Bureau of Biological Survey.
The first systematic and thorough study of the-food
habits of birds began in 1885, when the National
Government established a section of economic orni-
thology whose purpose was to investigate the food
habits, distribution, and migration of North Ameri-
can birds and mammals in relation to agriculture,
horticulture, and forestry. This was later given the
title of Bureau of Biological Survey. Its work upon
the economic value of birds has been along three
lines: (1) to determine as accurately as possible the
food of birds of economic importance; (2) to act as
a court of appeal to investigate complaints concern-
ing depredations of birds on crops; (3) to diffuse

64 BIRD FRIENDS

the results of its work and to educate the public as to
the value of birds.

Since its formation, the Bureau has collected a
large mass of facts regarding the food habits of over
four hundred species of birds and has published the
results of its investigations in bulletins printed by
the Government, some given away, others sold at
nominal prices. Some conception of the work of the
Bureau may be gained by looking over the partial
list of bulletins given on pages 318-19. This work
has steadily grown in importance and to-day the
Bureau is one of the most serviceable divisions of
the Department of Agriculture, employing eleven
men in the work on economic ornithology.

Methods of determining food of birds. Three
methods have been used to determine the food hab-
its of birds: (1) field observations of living birds to
observe the kinds of foods taken and the amounts;
(2) study of birds kept in captivity; (3) examina-
tion of the contents of birds’ stomachs after the birds
have been killed.

Field observations. In order to determine a bird’s
food from a study of the living bird, it is necessary
to get close to the bird or use a pair of field-glasses,
and even then it is difficult to determine exactly the
specific nature of the food. This method can best be
used in studying the food of nestlings. The parents
bring food frequently to the same spot and one is
able to approach close to the nest. Some observers

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 65

place a small tent within arm’s length of the nest
and watch the bird from within the tent. The birds
usually become accustomed to the presence of the
tent and come and go as usual. The number of times
that the young are fed may thus be learned. Phe
young may be weighed each day, and thus some idea
obtained of the increase in weight and of the amount
of food eaten.

Birds in captivity. When birds are kept in captiv-
ity the exact amount and kinds of food eaten may be
determined. The kinds eaten, under those condi-
tions, however, are not a safe guide for determining
the kinds eaten in nature, as doubtless, when hun-
gry, birds will eat many things which they do not
normally eat when at liberty. More accurate esti-
mates may be made of the amount of food eaten,
as the bird would doubtless require more food when
free than when in captivity, so that the amount
eaten in captivity would be a minimum.

Bob-white. The food habits of the bob-white
have been studied with birds kept in captivity.
Each of the following is a single day’s rations: 1350
flies, 5000 aphids, 1532 insects, 600 seeds of burdock,
12,000 seeds of pigweed, 15,000 seeds of lamb’s-
quarters. The bob-white was found to eat in cap-
tivity 61 kinds of weed seeds, besides the 68 kinds
previously recorded, making a total of 129 species.
It has also been found to eat 135 different kinds of
insects. As a result of these studies it is estimated

66 BIRD FRIENDS

that a single bob-white will eat in a year an average
of 75,090 insects and 5,000,000 weed seeds, which
would make about 73 pounds of insects and 10
pounds of weed seeds.

Examination of stomachs. But the most impor-
tant method of determining the focd of birds is
by examination of the contents of birds’ stomachs.
This is the final court of appeal, and is the method
used chiefly by the Bureau of Biological Survey.
Many specimens of a certain bird are collected dur-
ing different months from different sections of the
country and sent to Washington, where the stomachs
are examined. There usually remain in the stomach
some of the harder portions of the insects which have
not been changed, such as mandibles, scales of
moths, wing-covers, and pieces of legs. From an
examination of these with microscopes, experts are
able to determine the insects from which they have
come. Among the vegetable foods, differences in the
epidermis of many fruits and in the starch grains of
common cereals can be detected, and weed seeds can
be identified. Food of similar kinds is arranged in
piles and the percentage of the various kinds of food
computed. As an illustration of the method pur-
sued, we may take results obtained from the study
of the robin. Twelve hundred and thirty-six stom-
achs, collected from forty-two States, the District
of Columbia, and three Canadian Provinces, and
representing every month in the year, were exam-

A USEFUL CITIZEN

House Wren

DIAGRAM SHOWING PROPORTIONS OF THE FOOD
OF ADULT HOUSE WREN

1, cutworm ; 2,spider ; 3, stink-bug ; 4, May-fly; 5, weevil ; 6, grasshopper

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 67

ined. The food consisted of 42.4 per cent animal
food and 57.6 per cent vegetable food, divided as
follows: —

Animal food Vegetable food
Per cent Per cent

Beetles........ 17 Wild fruit.......... 42
Caterpillars.... 9 Cultivated fruit..... 8
Grasshoppers.. 5 Miscellaneous....... 74
Flies occ. os 3 Totals sccissccutec ams
Bees and ants.. $3 574
Bug 0560-34-55 2
Miscellaneous.. 34

Total. .... 42h

The animal food included 223 kinds of insects,
and the vegetable food 65 kinds of wild and 10 kinds
of cultivated fruit. This food may be classified ac-
cording to its value to man in the following groups:

To the robin’s credit To the robin’s discredit Neutral food

Per cent Per cent Per cent
Caterpillars... 9 Cultivated fruit.. 8 Wild fruit... 42
May beetles.. 5.5 Beneficial beetles. 5 Miscellaneous 10
Grasshoppers. 5 Spiders.......... 1
Weevils...... 4 Bees ..605 666 sess 1
March flies... 3
ANUS? ce odin ee 1.5

Other insects.. 5

Total.... 33 15 52

Approximately one seventh of the robin’s food is
composed of materials beneficial to man, one third
is composed of insects harmful to man, and about
one half is composed of neutral elements.

So far more than sixty thousand stomachs, com-
prising over four hundred species of birds have been
examined by the Bureau of Biological Survey.

68 BIRD FRIENDS

Still a fourth method is the combination of field
and laboratory work. The birds are studied in the
field in those localities where birds are collected for
stomach examinations. Facts are gathered relative
to the available food-supply for birds; these, in con-
nection with the examination of the stomach, show
what a bird will eat, what it prefers, and what it
refuses.

Good done by birds. These studies of the food of
birds show that they help man in three ways: (1) by
eating injurious insects; (2) by eating weed seeds;
and (3) by eating mice and other rodents. Another
way of minor importance in which the birds are use-
ful is in acting as scavengers.

Harm done by insects. Among insects are found
some of man’s most common foes. In almost every
walk of life, man has to contend with insects. The
mosquito and fly carry diseases and thus cause
thousands of cases of sickness and death every year.
The gardener, the fruit-grower, and the farmer are
constantly fighting the insects that prey upon their
crops. In the vegetable garden, the cabbage-worm
attacks the cabbage; the cucumber-beetle, the vine
crops; the potato-beetle, the potatoes. In the fruit-
garden, the codling moth damages the apple; the
currant-worm, the currant; the white grub, the
strawberry. On the farm the army-worm destroys
the wheat, and the root-aphis attacks the corn. The
elm-beetle and tussock-moth attack shade-trees,

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 69

and the forest tent-caterpillar destroys forest-trees.
Nearly all crops have a great variety of different
kinds of insects that may prey upon them. One
hundred and seventy-six kinds have been found
preying on the apple tree alone and four hundred
kinds on the oak.

The following table prepared by the United
States Bureau of Entomology gives an estimate of
the annual loss caused by insects in the United
States: —

Value —
Product Value di 2 i en of
088
Cereals............ $2,000,000,000 10 $200,000,000
Hay! .2se5 cane oxess 530,000,000 10 53,000,000
Cotton...... es ites 600,000,000 10 60,000,000
Tobacco........... 53,000,000 10 5,300,000
Truck crops........ 265,000,000 20 53,000,000
DUR AD 8h oan tec ucla 50,000,000 10 5,000,000
Priits).o2585 caieusenvers 135,000,000 20 27,000,000
Farm forests....... 110,000,000 10 11,000,000
Miscellaneous crops 58,000,000 10 5,800,000
Animal products... . 1,750,000,000 10 175,000,000
Totales cuccces $5,551,000,000 xd $595,100,000
Natural forests and

forest products is os 100,000,000
Products in storage. . ae ie 100,000,000
Grand total.... ee $795,100,000

Besides the tremendous loss caused directly by
the insects in destroying the crops, man spends an-
nually millions of dollars for spraying outfits and

70 BIRD FRIENDS

other means of controlling these pests. If to this
be added the loss in sickness and death caused by
mosquitoes and flies, the total annual toll that in-
sects collect from man in the United States is about
one billion dollars.

Power of reproduction of insects. Insects exist in
enormous numbers and have a most remarkable
power of increase. It is estimated that if the hop-
vine aphis should multiply unchecked and each in-
sect should live and find enough food, at the end of
one season the number of the last brood would be
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Dr. Hodge has es-
timated for the mosquito that if each insect should
live, and the female lay the average number of eggs,
the number of descendants of a single mosquito at
the end of six months would be represented by the
figure 2, followed by 39 ciphers. Of course this can
never happen, on account of abundance of its ene-
mies and lack of food. .

Amount of food eaten by insects. Another fact
that makes insects so destructive is the enormous
amount of food they devour in a short time. Many
caterpillars eat each day twice their own weight of
leaves. Sometimes a single day’s work of an army
of insects may be enough to destroy a crop.

Nature’s check on insects. The wonderful power
of reproduction possessed by insects and the enor-
mous amounts of food eaten suggest how important
it is that there should be checks constantly at work

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 71

to keep down their numbers. Such a constant check
are the birds, which constitute one of Nature’s most
effective means of controlling insects and keeping a
proper balance. Parasitic and predaceous insects
are another means of keeping the balance. The
birds work from sunrise till sunset devouring in-
sects during the warmer months of the year when
insects are abundant, and some birds during the
winter feed on insects’ eggs and on the hibernating
insects.

Man’s disturbance of Nature’s balance. Nature
when left to herself has balanced these forces evenly,
so that the insects are kept by birds and other
natural checks from becoming excessively numer-
ous and destructive. But man has upset Nature’s
balance in many ways. First, new crops have been
introduced; second, forests have been cleared and
crops raised on larger areas, thus furnishing more
food for insects and allowing them to increase;
third, many insects have unwittingly been intro-
duced into the United States from other countries;
and fourth, most strange and unbelievable of all,
man has wantonly destroyed the birds, Nature’s
check on the increase of injurious insects.

Service performed by the birds. The great service
that birds and other insect-enemies are now render-
ing to man is in destroying enough insects so that the
remainder will not do excessive and uncontrollable
damage. The birds can never utterly destroy any

72 BIRD FRIENDS

kind of insect, and this might prove undesirable
even if possible, but they help to keep them in check
to such an extent that man is able to cope with those
that are left and thus raise his crops successfully.
If man were suddenly deprived of the services of the
birds, this would allow insects to increase to such an
extent that it would render it many times more
difficult to raise crops; and some bird-students
say that without the aid of birds it would not be
possible to raise crops at all on account of the enor-
mous number of insects that would prey upon
them.

How serious the results would be if we were de-
prived of the service of the birds, it is difficult to say
exactly, but enough is known regarding the balance
that Nature has established between birds and in-
sects, so that we are sure that the birds are among
man’s greatest friends in his warfare on injurious
insects.

Amount of food eaten by birds. One thing about
birds that makes them such effective checks on in-
sects is the enormous amount of food they require.
The temperature of their blood is between 102 and
112 degrees, from 4 to 14 degrees higher than that in
man, and large amounts of food must be eaten to
maintain this high temperature. The blood courses
through the vessels with great rapidity, driven by
the heart, which beats one hundred and twenty
times a minute when the bird is at rest, and faster

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 73

when the bird is in motion. And the digestive sys-
tem is so constructed that it digests very rapidly the
bird’s food, which is then taken by the blood to the
various parts of the body, where its oxidation main-
tains the high temperature of the body. Probably
the whole process of digestion and assimilation of
food may take place in an hour and a half, so that
during the day the bird may eat enough food to fill
its stomach ten or twelve times. The study of birds
in the field and the examination of the contents of
birds’ stomachs show that a bird devours enormous
quantities of food.

Records of field observations of birds are con-
densed in the following table. These are taken from
the reports of Edward H. Forbush: —

Name of bird — lalate Kind of insect
Redstart............. 2 Brown-tail larvee
Nashville warbler...... 3 Tent-caterpillars
Chickadee............ 4 Brown-tail larvee
Red-eyed vireo........ 5 Brown-tail larvee
Robin................ 7 Brown-tail larvee
Yellow warbler........ 9 Caterpillars of gypsy moth
Cuckoo 45 bares 14 Canker-worms
Scarlet tanager....... 35 Caterpillars of gypsy moth
Maryland yellow-throat 89 Plant-lice

A few examples of the number of insects found in

the stomach of a single bird are given below in the
table. These figures are taken from the reports of
the Bureau of Biological Survey: —

74 BIRD FRIENDS

Name of bird Number of insects Kind of insect
Rose-breasted grosbeak 14 Potato-beetles (adult and

larvee)

Downy woodpecker... . 18 Larve of codling moth
Red-winged blackbird. . 28 Cutworms
Crow blackbird....... 30 Grasshoppers
Hairy woodpecker..... 100 Wood-boring grubs
Cuckoo... is ssseee sess 250 Tent-caterpillars
Robinly sc se. cix'gx teed 270 Larve of March-flies
Franklin gull......... 340 Grasshoppers
Flicker............... 5000 Ants

The following table showing the number of differ-
ent kinds of insects eaten by various birds is based
on the reports of the Bureau of Biological Survey: —

Name of bird Number of kinds
of insects eaten
Hairy woodpecker':isve wens ceeveieioman nese diteac. 21
Downy woodpecker............00cccececcucceeccees 43
Horned Jarl. cx sxnceleo's eae 3-5 © cS role pavicd oe cncusitsacesos see cpewvs 60
Crow BIRCKDIEd 4. cnccareacevenvacsacecteuantatek uteee 2 poe oi 63
CUCKOO 3. aesisihas ee od paroia/a ivnnnaedeiese wad eeasedee eee 65
Rose-breasted grosbeakei:c:. <0 v.ck eyinoulenee do's easiness 67
Red-headed woodpecker.........0.0..00 0000 c cee eeee 75
Teast:fly catcher cwien) sae 2 oeee ks sateen ckeedouea 75
Cardinal.) :co.225 She Gad saa sae atpara ie beanae tet aelen w noet ales 81
Crested fly catchers ive teres od a eas aatien ce Daves 85
MGIC ER snes A andnadoancenere es eetaianed Sees Miah eae e NT See. 89
PRE B Gi 3s: sus55 a Giansitncaeastd Asad Aas asecelorsponaee te eaten cies 121
Wi00d Pewee vee sicneniAsiele se ea nag cdecaia¥ one cts 131
BOB White is2:2705 2 ot entahsonnitacies osm Sate eheistomniia wie x= se 135
Bliebird sos cna katenclciaisie eg. 1 bas Aaw ween es oeeecde 166
LOD Li cngexavim tarps taertans ts wit eos nee ta ash 223
Keimebird ss. scscch Yaracsudeaase ato todo ads eeracaueateheeenceed tah 229
Nightha Whe ones Seaton itec aha eats ddan vances 600

The number of birds known to feed upon certain
injurious insects is given in the table below. This,

DOWNY WOODPECKER

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 75

also, is based on the reports of the Bureau of Bio-
logical Survey : —

Injurious insect Number of species of
birds feeding on it
Plum curculio: gn escectsts sys ew slavery ahes 4 vidios
Grain aphids: :s, cassetcaia Sg suvinapasdsnaae eae eH Gees
Potato-beetle: canes: cease eae beg greece ses
Coding moth..cicinad e404 sosiidemarcnai ata vas 4 soe

Birch plant-lee sce sas aa keekcee oe. be COS SESS
Brown-tail moth
Alfalfa weevil......
Gypsy moth.....
Scale insects....... be

Boll weevil ..ccccearead sot ay sawdveaeee de weeks inact

Below are given some estimates that have been
made of the number of insects destroyed by birds: —

Professor E. D. Sanderson estimates that the
chickadees in the State of Michigan destroy annu-
ally about 8,000,000,000 insects.

In the States of Virginia and North Carolina it is
estimated that the bob-white alone eats 340 tons of
insects from June 1 to August 1.

Mr. Chester A. Reed estimated that in the State
of Massachusetts the birds devour 21,000 bushels
of insects each day during the summer season.

Mr. Bruner gives the following estimate of the
number of insects destroyed in the State of Ne-
braska: —

Allowing 25 insects per day as an average diet for each
individual bird, and estimating that we have about one
and one half birds to the acre, or in round numbers

75,000,000 birds in Nebraska, there would be required
1,875,000,000 insects for each day’s rations. Again, es-

76 BIRD FRIENDS

timating the number of insects required to fill a bushel
at:120,000, it would take 15,625 bushels of insects to feed
our birds for a single day, or 937,500 bushels for 60 days,
or 2,343,750 bushels for 150 days.

Another Nebraska naturalist has estimated that
the birds of that State eat 170 carloads of insects
per day.

It has been calculated that the birds of New York
State destroy more than 3,000,000 bushels of noxious
insects each season.

Value of nestling birds. Special attention may be
called to the great service performed by birds when
feeding their young. As explained in a previous
chapter, nestlings require large amounts of food,
being fed every few minutes from sunrise to sunset.
This destruction of insects comes at a most oppor-
tune time, when the insects are present in great
numbers and before the parasitic insects can be de-
pended upon to reduce the pests. The chief food of
the nestlings is insects. Even when the adults feed
also on seeds, the young at first are fed largely on
insects. The most common kinds of food of nestlings
are caterpillars, grasshoppers, and spiders. A sug-
gestive estimate of the money value of nestlings has
been made in a government publication, from which
the following is taken: —

During the outbreak of Recky Mountain locusts in
Nebraska, in 1874-77, Professor Samuel Aughey saw a
long-billed marsh wren carry 30 locusts to her young in an

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 77

hour. At this rate, for seven hours a day, a brood would
consume 210 locusts per day, and the passerine birds of
the eastern half of Nebraska, allowing only 20 broods to
the square mile, would destroy daily 162,771,000 of the
pests. The average locust weighs about 15 grains, and is
capable each day of consuming its own weight of standing
forage crops, corn and wheat. The locusts eaten by the
nestlings would therefore be able to destroy in one day
174.397 tons of crops, which at $10 per ton would be
worth $1743.97. This case may serve as an illustration
of the vast good that is done every year by the destruction
of insect pests fed to nestling birds.

Number of insects destroyed by birds in the
eastern United States. Birds feed their young, on
an average, about two hundred insects a day. If we
take fifteen days as the average time that young
birds remain in the nest, the young during this time
would devour about three thousand insects. A
recent bird-census of the United States, made by the
Bureau of Biological Survey, showed that there was
an average of one pair of birds per acre on the farms
of the eastern United States. East of the Mississippi
River there are about 375,000,000 acres of farmland
supporting an equal number of pairs of birds. These
birds in rearing one brood of young would destroy
about 1,100,000,000,000 insects. This is the amount
for only two weeks eaten by the young birds alone
while in the nest. To get some conception of the
total amount of food eaten by all birds, to this must
be added the insects eaten by the second and third
broods which some species raise, those eaten by the

78 BIRD FRIENDS

adult birds, and those eaten by the young birds after
leaving the nest. The amount eaten by the young
after leaving the nest and by the adults in a month
would doubtless equal the amount required to feed
the young for a half-month in the nest. This would
make a monthly total of about 2,000,000,000,000
insects destroyed by birds on the farms of the east-
ern United States, or for the summer season about
10,000,000,000,000 insects.

If these insects averaged an inch in length and
were placed end to end, they would make a proces-
sion 160,000,000 miles long, which, if it were to
travel at the rate of a mile a minute, would require
three hundred years to pass any given point. This
would reach to the sun and almost back again; it
would reach the moon and return three hundred
times; it would encircle the earth sixty-four hundred
times. If the insects were placed side by side one
inch apart they would make a band fifty feet wide
extending to the moon, and would form a belt five
hundred feet wide extending all the way around the
earth. These insects, if placed an inch apart each
way would form a sheet that would completely cover
the State of Delaware.

Control of outbreaks of insects. One feature of
birds that makes them such a successful check upon
insects is their power of flight. Wherever insects are
found in unusually large numbers, there birds
quickly gather to prey upon them. When the Mor-

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS, 79

mons first settled in Utah, their crops were attacked
by the crickets and nearly destroyed, until the gulls
came in large numbers and preyed upon the crickets
and saved the remainder of the crops. In commem-
oration of this, a monument to the gulls has recently
been erected in Salt Lake City.

Outbreaks of locusts in the Middle West have been
controlled by birds. A serious outbreak of the forest
tent-caterpillar occurred in New York and New Eng-
land in 1897-98, but was finally brought under con-
trol by the action of the birds. An outbreak of the
canker-worm occurred in an apple orchard in Illi-
nois. A study of the birds found here showed that
twenty-six kinds of birds were feeding on these
canker-worms, which formed thirty-five per cent of
the birds’ food. There are many other records of
small local outbreaks which have been controlled by
the birds. But yet the greatest service that the birds
render is in keeping the insects down to such a point
that outbreaks do not occur.

Division of labor. The division of labor in those
places where insects are found is well apportioned
among the birds. Some birds, like the sparrows, feed
upon the insects found on the ground; the wood-
peckers spear those in the bark and wood of trees;
warblers and vireos glean the small insects found on
the leaves, while the larger birds, like the cuckoos,
feed upon the larger insects found on the foliage; the
swallows prey upon the insects in the air.

80 BIRD FRIENDS

‘¢ Birds of a Maryland Farm.” The figures so far
given regarding the food habits of birds have been
based largely on the averages for many birds col-
lected from all parts of the country. But in some
cases, in order to determine the value of birds in a
particular locality, certain local facts regarding the
crops raised and the insects present must be ascer-
tained in order to decide definitely the economic
status of the birds found there. Dr. Judd, of the
Bureau of Biological Survey, made a careful study of
a single farm of about two hundred and thirty acres
in Maryland, in order to ascertain which birds were
valuable and which were injurious on this particular
farm. The farm was visited frequently during every
month in the year for a period of seven years. A
list of the available food-supply was made, consisting
of insects, seeds, and fruit; the crops grown were
noted, and the insects preying upon them. The birds
were studied with reference to the kinds found, the
abundance of each kind, their distribution, and es-
pecially with reference to their food habits. The
birds were first studied in the field to ascertain on
what they were feeding, and a few birds were shot
and the contents of their stomachs examined. This
study is one of the most valuable ever carried on
along this line, and the results have been published
in a bulletin entitled ‘“‘Birds of a Maryland Farm.”

The results found here so nearly parallel the gen-
eral conclusions drawn from a study of birds through-

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 81

out the whole country, that a brief summary may be
given. During this period 163 species of birds were
observed. The stomachs of 298 birds were collected
and examined. Considering the food of all the birds
collectively, exclusive of the English sparrow, it was
found that beneficial insects formed 4 per cent of the
food, while injurious insects formed 27 per cent; grain
formed 1 per cent, while weed seeds formed 18 per
cent. This food may be grouped as follows: —

Food beneficial to man Food injurious to man
Per cent Per cent

Beneficial insects... 4 Injurious insects.... 27

Greit he scoiecietienns i Weed seeds........ 18

Totals. c.cewes 5} Total......... 45

The injurious food is thus seen to equal in amount
nine times the beneficial food; or, in other words, the
birds did nine times as much good as harm. A
small amount of cultivated fruit was eaten, but the
exact per cent was not given in the bulletin.

Birds and human health. It is now well known
that some insects carry diseases and thus are the in-
direct causes of sickness and death. The house-fly
and mosquito are the two most common and deadly
insects in this way. The house-fly carries typhoid
fever, tuberculosis, children’s diseases of the alimen-
tary canal, and many other diseases. Mosquitoes
carry malaria and yellow fever, and are the only
means known by which these diseases are carried
from one person to another. And even in the north-

82 BIRD FRIENDS

ern sections of the country where these diseases are
not found, mosquitoes are a great pest and prevent
one from enjoying outdoors at the best time of the
year. The food habits of birds may be studied with
special interest in this connection to see to what ex-
tent they feed on flies and mosquitoes.

The reports of the Bureau of Biological Survey
show that there are a number of birds known to eat
these insects. Nine species of shore-birds are known
to feed on the wigglers of mosquitoes. In a killdeer’s
stomach, hundreds of larve of the salt-marsh mos-
quito have been found. Fifty-three per cent of the
food of twenty-eight northern phalaropes from one
locality consisted of mosquito larve. °

The following land-birds are known to feed on the
adult mosquito: nighthawk, purple martin, yellow-
throated vireo, whip-poor-will, chimney swift, wood
pewee, pheebe, kingbird, bank swallow, cliff swallow,
tree swallow, barn swallow, violet-green swallow,
wren-tit, and summer warbler. Five hundred mos-
quitoes are said to have been found in the stomach
of a single nighthawk. Among the species eaten by
this bird is the kind that carries malaria, so that,
as we watch a nighthawk soaring around at twilight,
we may believe it quite possible that it has been the
means of saving some human life by destroying
malaria-laden mosquitoes which might otherwise
have bitten and infected a human being, thus caus-
ing sickness or death.

DESTROYERS OF INSECT PESTS 83

A bob-white kept in captivity ate 568 mosquitoes
in two hours.

The following birds have been known to feed on
house-flies: wood pewee, phoebe, yellow-throated
vireo, martin, bob-white, and horned lark.

A bob-white kept in captivity ate 1350 flies in one
day.

Mr. E. H. Baynes, in his “Wild Bird Guests,”
writes: —

The pair of phoebes on our piazza, with two pairs of tree
swallows which nest in boxes in the garden, and a pair of

barn swallows in the barn, keep our house practically free
from flies and mosquitoes all summer long.

CHAPTER VIII

FRIENDS AMONG THE BIRDS AS DESTROYERS
OF WEED SEEDS

Harm done by weeds. Weeds constitute one of
the greatest enemies against which the farmer or
gardener must contend. During the growing season
he must wage a constant warfare against them.
Weeds may be injurious in the following ways: (1)
Weeds interfere with the growth of crops by depriv-
ing them of plant-food, moisture, and sunlight and
thus reduce the yield. (2) Another loss results from
the mixture of weed seeds with the seeds of farm
crops. It has been estimated that in the State of
Minnesota alone the damage due to weed seeds
amounts yearly to two and a half million dollars.
(3) Weeds interfere with the harvesting and curing
of crops. (4) Some weeds harbor insect pests and
fungus diseases, which may injure crops growing near.
(5) Some weeds are poisonous either to man or to live-
stock. A recent bulletin published by the Department
of Agriculture estimated that weeds cost the Amer-
ican farmer three hundred million dollars every year.

The seed period of the weeds is one of the most
vital at which they may be attacked. It is the
migration stage during which they are spread from

FOX SPARROWS, EATERS OF WEED SEEDS

DESTROYERS OF WEED SEEDS 85

place to place. Many of the troublesome qualities
which weeds possess are due indirectly to certain
characteristics of the seeds: (1) the enormous num-
ber produced by a single plant; (2) their remarkable
adaptations for dispersal; and (3) their wonderful
vitality.

Productivity of weeds. A single plant of many
common weeds like the foxtail and the lamb’s-quar-
ters may produce 25,000 seeds. It has been esti-
mated that a single plant of purslane may produce
100,000 seeds; of pigweed, 300,000; of lamb’s-quar-
ters, 1,800,000; and of wormseed, 26,000,000. At
Ames, Iowa, a square rod of ground in a garden,
which had been in potatoes the year before and cul-
tivated with a hoe, yielded 187,884 plants of eight
common weeds.

Dispersal of weed seeds. The seeds of weeds are
well adapted for dispersal. Many are scattered by
the wind; some of the tumble-weeds are rolled along
on the prairies; some have winglike attachments,
like the docks; others have hairlike appendages, like
the dandelions. Others have hooks by means of
which they may be attached to clothing and fur and
thus be carried long distances.

Vitality of weed seeds. And then, finally, after
the seeds have reached their resting-places, they may
retain their vitality and be able to germinate after
many years of exposure to winter cold and summer
drought. The seeds of most of our common weeds

86 BIRD FRIENDS

retain their vitality from three to five years. The
mustard seeds may retain theirs for ten years. In one
study made on the longevity of seeds, some seeds of
the Indian mallow and shoo-fly germinated after a
lapse of fifty-seven years, and the seed of white
sweet clover after seventy-seven years.

Birds as destroyers of weed seeds. We have
already seen that another enemy of the farmer is the
insect, and it is a very interesting and remarkable
fact of vital importance to the farmer that one of
Nature’s means of controlling both these pests is the
same, namely, the birds. Sometimes one group of
birds helps to control the insect pests, and another
group helps to control weed pests, but in many cases
the same birds help to control both insect and weed
pests, as is the case with the native sparrows. In
fact, in the great majority of cases those birds which
feed upon weed seeds also feed upon insects, al-
though there are many birds which feed upon insects
that do not eat weed seeds.

There are two or three hundred kinds of birds
known to eat weed seeds to some extent, and about
one hundred kinds of weed seeds are known to be
eaten. The birds which are most effective in con-
trolling weeds are the bob-white, the mourning dove,
and the native sparrows. The seeds most commonly
eaten are those of ragweed, pigeon-grass, crab-
grass, bindweed, purslane, smartweed, pigweed, and
lamb’s-quarters.

DESTROYERS OF WEED SEEDS 87

The percentage of weed seeds eaten by some of
the more effective weed-seed destroyers are shown in
the following table, based on the reports of the
Bureau of Biological Survey: —

Name of bird Per cent of whole food

that weed seeds form
Mournitig- doves cscs cies ccaktimedvaecesees 4468 64
Horned darks siscita cia. vs case aieaiamonincdens vee rietegan 64
Cowbitdins « .tiissd oe Riek cee iiwoatiaseund tat adnek es 60
Red-winged blackbird. ........-....-eeee sees etree eee 55
Chipping sparrow. ...... 6c. ceeee cece ee eet e eee eeeees 53
Bob- white ic cake boos) eras adtngewnid eelee Wake 50
Song sparrows se ccuos ii see eenaeesaeeiasaneeeeeeas 50
WeeSPEl? SPOLLOWS., 2:2 teisisis we nve:ace ddeat nsvayolentuacesabaleas;d asec ee veyeigee 42
Biel: sparrowic scandens sss2008 seaceawenaw saree Saud 8 40

The following table, also based on the reports of
the Bureau of Biological Survey, shows the number
of different kinds of weed seeds known to be eaten
by certain species of birds: —

Name of bird Number of kinds of
weed seeds eaten
Grow blackbird. cusavwwe vexeites oo eeetainc eee es eeak se 6
Rose-breasted grosbeak ........... 0c cece ee eens eeeee 14
Red-winged blackbird.........-. cece eee erecee een ees 14
Cowbivd sn: <aueiestesiae 2 42 vance Gin es watlonnaciis eee a we 17
Horned Varker ay siiicis cie.go:0esic wi catiseauatssstencus bine S's 0 <telern Baas 38
Cardinal cccxnimratarasen ss 63554 2G Se 2s eee sa Ae 39
Bobs w the sicectvacisnderand aid cee ee ciprarc orate ovtatva erick elasava eialauene 129

Amounts eaten. As birds are capable of eating
enormous quantities of insects, so, too, some eat
enormous quantities of weed seeds. It is common for
a crow blackbird to eat from thirty to fifty seeds of
smartweed, and a field sparrow one hundred seeds
of crabgrass, at one meal. Dr. Judd estimated that

88 BIRD FRIENDS

on an acre of land on a Maryland farm, the 540 birds
found there destroyed 46,000 weed seeds at a single
breakfast.

Mr. E. H. Forbush, during one winter, fed the
birds at his window with seeds of Japanese millet,
a sort of weed improved by cultivation, whose seeds
are larger than those of most weeds. Records were
kept of the number of seeds eaten in a certain time.
It was found that the three species feeding averaged
each to eat thirty-five seeds per minute. Assuming
that each bird fed on weed seeds at this rate for only
one hour a day, it would destroy 2100 seeds daily,
or 14,700 weekly.

The following table, based on the reports of the
Bureau of Biological Survey, shows the number of
weed seeds that have been found in a single stomach
of various birds: —

Names of bard aaueenie Kindhof weed
Crow blackbird.............-. 50 Smartweed
Field sparrow.............0055 100 Crabgrass
Chipping sparrow is 150 Crabgrass
PIES SPALLOW a soos acts wane aes 700 Pigeon-grass
Snow bunting. osc icsraaane 1,500 Amaranth
Mourning dove...............- 7,500 Yellow wood-sorrel
Bob-white jer. aj 00 cerab-ne aectaic 10,000 Pigweed

It is estimated that in the States of Virginia and
North Carolina, the bob-white consumes thirteen
hundred tons of weed seeds in eight months.

GOLDFINCH

DESTROYERS OF WEED SEEDS 89

‘Professor Beal estimates the amount of weed seed
annually destroyed by the tree sparrow in Iowa as
follows: —

On the basis of one fourth of an ounce of seed eaten
daily by each bird, and an average of ten birds to each
Square mile, remaining in their winter range two hundred
days, there would be a total of 1,750,000 pounds, or 875
tons, of weed seed consumed in a single season by this one
species. Large as are these figures, they unquestionably
fall far short of the reality.

Effect on weed-patches. Studies that have been
made of patches of weeds after being visited by birds
show that the work of destroying the seeds is done
very effectively by them. In April, Dr. Judd exam-
ined weed-patches on a farm in Maryland to see to
what extent the seeds had been destroyed. In one
field, where in the fall there had been scores of seeds
on every ragweed plant, it was difficult to find, during
a fifteen-minute search, half a dozen seeds remain-
ing. In another field, in a thick growth of pigeon-
grass, where there had been hundreds of seeds in
the fall, sometimes not a single one was found; and
on a mat of crabgrass, where there had been thou-
sands in the fall, frequently not one was left.

The native sparrows are specially efficient de-
stroyers of weed seeds, and sometimes in two months
will destroy ninety per cent of the seeds of pigeon-
grass and ragweed. Weed seeds form more than half
of their food for the entire year, and during the colder

90 BIRD FRIENDS

half of the’ year they form about four fifths of the
food of some sparrows. Most of the work of destroy-
ing weed seeds is done between early autumn and
late spring. During the summer the birds feed largely
on insects.

Mr. H. W. Henshaw, chief of the Bureau of Bio-
logical Survey, estimates that in the year 1906 the
weed-seed-eating birds saved to the farmers of the
country $35,000,000, on the assumption that the de-
struction of these weed seeds resulted in the saving
of only one per cent of the crop.

CHAPTER IX

FRIENDS AMONG THE BIRDS AS DESTROYERS
OF RODENT PESTS

Harm done by rodents. Another enemy of the
farmer is the group of animals called rodents, such
as mice, rats, ground squirrels, and rabbits, which
destroy crops. The ground squirrels damage grain
and forage crops to the extent of many millions of
dollars annually; and it is known that they carry
the germs of bubonic plague. The leopard ground
squirrel, found in the western United States, digs
up newly planted corn, and eats clover and alfalfa.
The gray ground squirrel, found in the Dakotas and
the neighboring States, feeds upon young chickens.
Some squirrels destroy eggs of valuable birds. In the
Middle West, the prairie dogs cause great damage by
feeding on grains, and their burrows and hillocks are
troublesome. Rats and mice are the most harmful
rodent pests found on the farm. They eat almost
any vegetable or grain crop and girdle fruit-trees.
The rat carries disease-germs, being especially con-
nected with the transmission of bubonic plague.
The meadow mouse destroys meadows by tunneling
under them and eating the roots of grass.

Rabbits, on account of their size and abundance,

92 BIRD FRIENDS

do much harm. They eat all sorts of plant prod-
ucts, including grains and vegetables. The softer
products constitute their summer food, and in the
winter, bark and twigs are eaten, damage being
done by girdling fruit-trees. In the West they are
especially destructive to melons, pears, and cab-
bages.

Pocket gophers live on a great variety of plant
products and are especially destructive to potatoes
and alfalfa, and do much damage to fruit and shade
trees.

Value of hawks and owls. Nature’s chief checks
for controlling these rodent pests are the hawks and
owls, whose food consists largely of these injurious
animals, although insects, poultry, and wild birds
form minor items of their food. These two groups
of birds supplement each other, the hawks working
by day and the owls by night. As with other birds,
so here, enormous quantities of food are eaten. It is
the habit of owls to disgorge pellets of indigestible
matter — bones, fur, etc. — taken with their food.
An examination, made by Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the
pellets found during a summer beneath the nest of
a pair of barn owls showed the presence of 432 skulls
of mice and rats, out of a total of 454 skulls found
in 200 pellets. A similar study of long-eared owls
in another locality, made during several winter
months, showed that each owl on the average de-
stroyed two mice a day. Under the nest of a pair of

DESTROYERS OF RODENT PESTS 93

great horned owls there were found at one time the
remains of over 100 rats.

No group of birds has been so misunderstood as
the hawks and owls. A few hawks do damage to
poultry, and the belief is somewhat prevalent that
all hawks and owls are injurious. It is as though the
whole human race were to be judged by the crimi-
nals found in jails and prisons. It is unfortunate
that there should be this misunderstanding regard-
ing these birds, because, excepting five or six kinds,
they are man’s friends, constituting, as they do,
about the only natural check now left on these rodent
pests.

Bounties. During years past bounties have been
offered in some States on all hawks and owls, and as
a result great harm has been done the farmer, who
has suffered more severely through the increase of
rodent pests which followed the destruction of their
enemies. Through ignorance of the economic value
of these birds, in 1885 a law was passed in Pennsyl-
vania placing a bounty of fifty cents on each hawk
and owl. In a few years so many of these birds were
killed that there was an increase in the amount of
harm done to crops by rodent pests, so that the
farmers had the bounty law repealed. Dr. C. Hart
Merriam estimated that, as a result of this bounty
law and the consequent destruction of about one
hundred thousand hawks and owls, the State of
Pennsylvania suffered an annual loss to its agricul-

94 BIRD FRIENDS

tural interests of two and a half million dollars, or
that the State threw away $2105 for every dollar
saved.

Study of food of hawks and owls. The Bureau of
Biological Survey has made a very careful study of
the food habits of the hawks and owls, and as a
result these birds are divided into four groups by
Dr. A. K. Fisher, who had charge of the investi-
gations:

(1) Species which are wholly beneficial. To this
class belong six species: the large rough-legged
hawk, the squirrel hawk, or ferruginous rough-leg,
and the four kites.

(2) Species chiefly beneficial. This class contains
a majority of the hawks and owls, including twenty-
nine species, of which the following are among the
more common: marsh hawk, red-tailed hawk, red-
shouldered hawk, Swainson’s hawk, broad-winged
hawk, sparrow hawk, barn owl, long-eared owl,
short-eared owl, and screech owl.

(3) Species in which beneficial and harmful quali-
ties about balance. This class includes seven species:
the golden eagle, bald eagle, pigeon hawk, Richard-
son’s hawk, Aplomado falcon, prairie faleon, and
great horned owl.

(4) Harmful species. This class contains five spe-
cies: the gyrfalcons, duck hawk, goshawk, sharp-
shinned hawk, and Cooper’s hawk. Of these the
first three are so rare that they do not need to be

R. BRUCE HOR SFA

SCREECH OWL

DESTROYERS OF RODENT PESTS 95

taken into account, thus leaving only two injurious
hawks and no injurious owls that are at all common.
The chief harm done by the birds in this class is in
destroying poultry and valuable insectivorous and
game birds.

Thus approximately ten per cent of the species of
hawks and owls are harmful, fifteen per cent are
neutral, and seventy-five per cent are beneficial.

Some bird-students place the pigeon hawk and
great horned owl in the harmful group instead of the
neutral group, the former on account of the number
of song-birds destroyed, and the latter on account of
the poultry and game-birds eaten.

The following table is based on the results of a
study of hawks and owls made by the Bureau of
Biological Survey. In this study about twenty-
seven hundred stomachs were examined. The per-
centages here given are based on the number of
stomachs found to contain the different articles of
food. A more accurate estimate would be obtained
by estimating the percentage of the total amount of
food, but the table gives a fair estimate of the eco-
nomic status of each bird. In many cases the stom-
achs were found empty, and in computing this table
the percentages have been based on the number of
stomachs found with food. By this method of com-
puting the percentages, the sums for one bird total
more than one hundred, because usually a bird had
fed on several kinds of food.

96 BIRD FRIENDS

FOOD CHART OF HAWKS AND OWLS
(Based on number of birds eating various foods)

Per cent Per cent
eating Per cent eating Per cent
Name of bird mammal eating poultry eating
pests insects and game-j other birds
birds
Chiefly beneficial
species
Red-tailed hawk.. 86 10 11 10
Red-shouldered
hawk: 5 .c2cse 70 45 14 6
Marsh hawk..... 68 12 6 30
Broad-winged
WE se cis. veers 50 52 0 33
Sparrow hawk... 34 72 3 18
Short-eared owl. . 96 8 0 12
Long-eared owl... 96 1 1 16
Barred owl. ..... 72 16 6 15
Screech owl...... 48 47 $ 13
Neutral species
Great horned owl. 71 9 28 7
Pigeon hawk..... 4 31 4 80
Harmful species
Cooper’s hawk... 12 2 36 55
Sharp-shinned
hawks. \ncevs% 6 5 6 92
Average......... 55 24 8 27

The table shows that approximately seven times
as many birds had eaten mammal pests as had eaten
poultry and game-birds.

The results of these studies were published in a
bulletin in which the economic status is briefly sum-
marized as follows: —

DESTROYERS OF RODENT PESTS 97

The result proves that a class of birds commonly looked
upon as enemies to the farmer, and indiscriminately de-
stroyed whenever occasion offers, really rank among his
best friends, and with few exceptions should be preserved
and encouraged to take up their abode in the neighbor-
hood of his home. Only six of the seventy-three species
and subspecies of hawks and owls of the United States
are injurious. Of these, three are so extremely rare that
they need hardly be considered, and another (the fish
hawk) is only indirectly injurious, leaving but two (the
sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks) that really need to be
taken into account as enemies to agriculture. Omitting
the six species that feed largely on poultry and game,
2212 stomachs were examined, of which 56 per cent con-
tained mice and other small mammals, 27 per cent in-
sects, and only 3% per cent poultry and game-birds. In
view of these facts the folly of offering bounties for the
destruction of hawks and owls, as has been done by
several States, becomes apparent, and the importance of
an accurate knowledge of the economic status of our
common birds and mammals is overwhelmingly demon-
strated.

Money value of hawks and owls. Mr. H. W.
Henshaw, chief of the Bureau of Biological Sur-
vey, estimates that Swainson’s hawk saves the
Western farmers one hundred thousand dollars a
year through the destruction of injurious insects and
small rodents.

Dr. C. Hart Merriam, former chief of the Bureau
of Biological Survey, estimates the value of a hawk
or owl as follows: —

It is within bounds to say that within the course of a
year every hawk and owl destroys at least a thousand

98 BIRD FRIENDS

mice or their equivalent in insects, and that each mouse or
its equivalent so destroyed would cause the farmer a loss
of two cents per annum. Therefore, the lowest estimate
of the value to the farmer of each hawk and owl would
be twenty dollars a year.

Mr. E. H. Baynes estimates the money value of
a pair of marsh hawks substantially as follows:
Eight meadow mice have been found in the stomach
of a single marsh hawk. Assuming on the average
that the bird destroys only half this number each
day, a pair would destroy 2920 mice in a year. It
has been estimated that each mouse causes an
annual loss to the farmer of two cents in damaging
crops. Thus the destruction of 2920 mice means
the saving of $58.40, which represents the yearly
money value of a pair of marsh hawks.

CHAPTER X
FOES AMONG THE BIRDS

Birps may be harmful to man in the following
ways: (1) by eating eultivated fruits; (2) by eating
grains; (3) by destroying poultry; (4) by injuring
trees and wood products; (5) by feeding on benefi-
cial insects; (6) by injuring other birds which are
valuable.

Fruit-eaters. A number of birds eat cultivated
fruits to a greater or less extent. The fruits chiefly
damaged are the smaller ones, such as strawberries,
raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and olives, and
sometimes grapes may be punctured. The chief
fruit-eating birds, arranged in the order of the per-
centage which fruit forms of the whole food, are.
shown in the following table: —

Name of bird Per cent of whole food that
cultivated fruits form

In certain localities the injury done may be very
serious. During the winter of 1900-01 enormous
numbers of robins visited the olive orchards of some
portions of California and did thousands of dollars

100 BIRD FRIENDS

worth of damage, in some orchards ruining from one
fourth to one half the crop.

There is seldom any widespread complaint re-
garding the harm done by birds in destroying fruit,
the injury usually being confined to some small lo-
cality where there has been an increase in the
number of fruit-eating birds or a decrease in the
supply of wild fruit on which these birds usually
subsist.

The remedy is not found in permitting wholesale
slaughter of these birds throughout the whole coun-
try, but it may be necessary to allow shooting in
those localities where the harm is done, so that the
fruit-growers may protect themselves. Those birds
which feed on cultivated fruits feed to an even
greater extent on wild fruits, which if present in
sufficient quantities, are usually preferred to the
cultivated.

Complaints against the robin have come chiefly
from two sources, the suburbs of large towns in the
East and the prairie region of the West. In these
localities those wild fruits which robins prefer are
naturally lacking, and hence the robins turn to the
cultivated fruits.

Injury to grain. Several birds do considerable
damage to grain, either to the newly planted seed in
the spring, or to the matured grain in the fall. The
grains chiefly affected are corn, wheat, and oats.
The birds that feed upon grain, in the order of the

haus @ Fier ter,

beg.

Se ae
oO es,

ENGLISH SPARROW

Upper, male; lower, female

FOES AMONG THE BIRDS 101

percentage that grain forms of the whole food, are
shown in the following table: —

Name of bird Per cent of the whole
food that grain forms
Euiglish Sparrow s:004 0eeinsenace ved on wees auleaminewenae 74
Crow DIB CKDURG fecicecNicue, sivelius oldsacsosk, bs Ss mamaned wicca ease 46
CrOW id ietepvn’y vinretew re dedaletomena vie weyers oak 4 An unten asernmssas 29
Cowbirds:. csc tdetoce she wav tctvearet en adh St guiaiue wets 16
Red-winged blackbird «0% esacauavecs sea seeueernees 14

The crow does damage chiefly to the sprouting
grain, the other birds to the maturing crop. The
crow and crow blackbird do their chief damage to
corn. The red-winged blackbird is especially de-
structive in the Mississippi Valley. Favorable con-
ditions for breeding are found in the sloughs and
marshes, and after the young have left the nest,
large flocks may settle upon grain-fields and do dam-
age, both by eating the grain and by breaking down
the straw and making it difficult to cut.

These birds do not seem to be especially fond of
grain as compared with wild foods, but are driven to
eating it on account of an excessive number of birds
of the same kind living in a limited area. In time
a proper equilibrium will probably be established,
when the birds will exist in smaller numbers and
hence do less damage. A study of the months when
this grain was eaten and of the places where it was
collected shows that it was probably at least half
waste grain collected in the fields or on the ground
after the grain had been harvested, so that this

102 BIRD FRIENDS

represents no loss to the farmer and should not be
counted against the birds.

The bobolink in rice-fields. In the North the
bobolink is beneficial in its feeding-habits and has
associated with it some of the pleasantest memories
of the springtime. But in the South, until recently,
the case was entirely different. The birds arrive in
the South in April just after the rice seeds have been
planted and do some damage to the sprouting grain.
The birds nest in the northern part of the United
States and after the, breeding-season is over gather
in flocks and migrate southward, and used to arrive
in the rice-fields the last of August, and for two
months were present in millions, during which time
rice constituted almost their entire food. These
birds caused great loss to the rice-grower, estimated
at two million dollars annually. There was the di-
rect loss due to the eating of the rice and the indirect
loss on account of the expense involved in the meth-
ods used to keep off the bobolinks. Men and boys
were posted in the rice-fields from sunrise to sunset to
fire blank cartridges and thus frighten off the birds.

Formerly the harm done by the bobolinks in the
South by eating rice was greater than the good done
by them in the North in destroying injurious insects
and weed seeds. But the injury now done is consid-
erably less than formerly, as is shown by the follow-
ing quotation from a recent bulletin of the Bureau
of Biological Survey : —

FOES AMONG THE BIRDS 103

Formerly, when the low, marshy shores of the Caro-
linas and some of the more southern States were de-
voted to rice-culture, the bobolinks made great havoc
upon the sprouting rice in spring and upon the ripen-
ing grain on their return migration in the fall. With a
change in the rice-raising districts, however, this damage
is no longer done.

Destruction of poultry. Some of the hawks and
owls destroy poultry, but, as already pointed out in
discussing the value of these birds in destroying
rodents, this is the exception and not the rule. Only
one common hawk, Cooper’s hawk, does any serious
damage in the poultry-yard. The sharp-shinned
hawk, which is one of the injurious hawks, is too
small to do much damage to the larger fowl, and
finds its food chiefly among the small native birds.
Other hawks and owls occasionally destroy poultry,
but the harm done is much more than balanced by
the good done in destroying mammal pests. Fol-
lowing is a list of hawks and owls arranged in the
order of the percentage of individuals that had eaten

poultry : —
Name of bird Per cent of birds that
had eaten poultry
Cooper's: Hawes. icciaoies aaes # timiniacaselaleraaibee a Qiercsanetweiareds 36
Great horned. owl si. veiscomthee aus tse Festae de ditiatsceceseearwsacs 28
Red=tailed: ha wl i. :5 0: css aanatieeas x pavieaneaaaundabiatectos ab
Marsh: Hawt: s.c1r.2 zs aracanatsesinveng ive he435 Gave eae ole 6
Sharp-shinned hawk.......... 00. e cece eee eee cece eees 6
BATTED SOW ee doosinie 3a cv arcktaieaidaauetne vine ben Hine ete haets 6

The percentage of the others is zero, or so small
as to be negligible.

104 BIRD FRIENDS

Damage to trees and wood products. Wood-
peckers drill small holes in trees to obtain insects
and make large holes for nesting-sites. When these
are made in dead wood, no harm is done, but when
made in living wood, some slight harm may result,
and occasionally telephone-poles are weakened by
holes bored by woodpeckers. On the whole, the
harm done in these ways is very slight and does not
deserve serious consideration in the light of the good
these birds do. But there is one woodpecker which
does serious damage both to living trees and to wood
products made from trees; that is the sapsucker, of
which there are three species in the United States,
the yellow-bellied sapsucker being the only one
found in the eastern United States.

The sapsucker feeds to a large extent on the bast,
or inner layer of the bark, the cambium, or growing
tissue, and the sap of trees. In order to obtain this
food, holes are drilled into trees. These are often
arranged in rings around the tree and may girdle it.
Strips of bark between the holes may also be removed.

Since the inner bark is one of the channels through
which sap passes in the tree, the removal of this
bark seriously interferes with the growth of the tree.
The tree may simply have its vitality lowered, or a
few branches may die, or the whole tree may die,
depending on the number and arrangement of the
holes. These holes furnish opportunity for insects
and fungi to enter and do further harm. Altogether

FOES AMONG THE BIRDS 105

the yellow-bellied sapsucker has been known to at-
tack 246 species of native trees and 31 kinds of in-
troduced trees, a total of 277 trees. Of these, 29
species are known sometimes to have been killed,
and 28 others are known to have been disfigured or
seriously reduced in vitality.

But the damage done is not confined to the living
trees. Of greater commerical loss is the resulting
injury to the wood products after the tree is cut
down. When the tree heals and new wood grows
around the holes made by the sapsucker, blemishes
of various kinds may appear, such as staining, dis-
tortion of the grain, or formation of knotty growths
and cavities. As a result, the value of the wood is
reduced. These defects especially render unfit for
use the woods used for ornamental purposes, such
as mahogany and black walnut; they may blemish
woods valuable for some special quality, such as
hickory; and sometimes they may even destroy the
value of wood used for heavy construction purposes,
such as Western hemlock and Southern basswood.
The wood of one hundred and seventy-four species of
trees has been found to contain defects due to sap-
sucker work. It is estimated that one tenth of all
the trees within the sapsucker’s range bears marks
of his work, and so wood of one tenth of the trees
would contain defects. This matter has been care-
fully investigated by the Bureau of Biological Sur-
vey, with the result that it is estimated that the

106 BIRD FRIENDS

annual loss due to the sapsucker is a million and a
quarter dollars.

Destroying beneficial insects. Some insects are
helpful to man, such as the parasitic and predacious
insects that prey upon injurious insects, the bees and
wasps that pollinate fruit flowers, and the honey-
bee, which produces honey. It is to be expected that
birds in their search for insects would feed on the
beneficial forms as well as those that are injurious to
man. To what extent these insects form a part of
birds’ food and how this compares with the amount
of injurious insects eaten are questions to be investi-
gated in determining the economic status of birds.
The worst offenders in this line of destroying benefi-
cial insects are found in the family of flycatchers,
including the phebe, kingbird, chebec, and wood
pewee. These insects are also eaten to some extent
‘by the swallows and warblers.

Dr. Judd found in his studies of the “Birds of a
Maryland Farm,” after an examination of about
seven hundred stomachs representing one hundred
and sixty-three species, that beneficial insects
formed four per cent of their food while injurious
insects formed twenty-seven per cent. This would
probably hold true for birds as a class, that their
food contains seven times as many injurious as
beneficial insects. The small size of many parasitic
insects helps to explain why birds feed on these in-
sects to such a small extent.

FOES AMONG THE BIRDS 107

It does not always follow that birds are doing
harm when destroying these beneficial insects. In
the case of the small parasites, their presence in the
bird’s stomach suggests that probably these insects
at the time were unusually abundant and probably
little harm was done by destroying their excess. In
the case of parasitic insects eaten during the latter
half of the summer, there would not have been suffi-
cient time for these to become effective even had
they lived. There is also to be considered the fact
that the parasites often destroy useful insects or are
destroyed by other insects. So that when all things
are taken into consideration in this complicated
problem, the amount of harm done by birds in eat-
ing beneficial insects is not so great as might at first
appear.

Injury to valuable birds. Some birds may be
harmful by injuring other birds which are distinctly
valuable. In some cases the adult birds may be
killed and used for food. The worst offenders are
the sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper’s hawk, pigeon
hawk, and the great horned owl, especially the
sharp-shinned hawk, more than half of whose food
consists of small valuable birds. This hawk has
been known to feed on forty-six kinds of birds.
Other hawks and owls, but to a much less extent,
may occasionally feed on song-birds. Beneficial
birds form about one fourth of the food of the
shrike, or butcher-bird. In other cases birds may

108 BIRD FRIENDS

destroy the eggs and nestlings of other small birds.
The crow, blue jay, crow blackbird, and English
sparrow are offenders along this line.

In still another, indirect, way birds may injure
other birds, by occupying their nesting-sites. This is
one of the chief ways in which the English sparrow
is harmful, because it preémpts both the natural
nesting-sites and the boxes provided for such birds
as the martin, the tree swallow, and the bluebird,
and often drives them away when they do select
a nesting-site. In many sections these birds are
decreasing in numbers on account of the persecu-
tions of the English sparrow. It may destroy the
eggs and young of these birds and even attack other
birds that do not use similar nesting-sites.

The starling, which is now found in the East,
seems to be having a similar effect, but, being a
larger bird, is affecting other birds such as the
flicker. The cowbird also does some injury through
its habit of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds,
because the raising of the young usually means the
death of several young birds found in the nest with it.

Preventing depredations of the birds. In many
cases the harm that birds do can be greatly lessened
by observing certain precautions, and the birds may
still be retained for the good they do. The harm
done by crows in the spring in pulling up corn may
be greatly lessened by coating the corn with tar.
Small fruits may be protected by planting wild

FOES AMONG THE BIRDS 109

fruits that ripen at about the same time. Birds usu-
ally prefer these wild fruits to the cultivated.
Strawberries and cherries may be protected by
planting the Russian mulberry and June-berry.
Blackberries and raspberries may be protected by
planting mulberry, elder, and chokecherry. Grapes
may be protected by planting elder, Virginia
creeper, and black cherry.

CHAPTER XI
STRIKING THE BALANCE

Havine taken up in turn the good done by the
birds and the harm done, the question naturally
arises as to how these two compare. The following
standard has been given by Dr. Judd for de
termining the economic status of a bird: —

For a rough general estimate it is safe to assume that
a bird that feeds on insects, seeds, and fruit, and is abun-
dant on a farm, will do more good than harm, and usu-
ally be worthy of protection, when the neutral part of
its food forms less than half of its entire food and its

beneficial food amounts to several times its injurious
food.

Applying this standard to our common birds,
they may be divided into three groups: injurious,
neutral, and beneficial.

To the injurious group belong four common birds:
the English sparrow, the sapsucker, Cooper’s hawk,
and the sharp-shinned hawk.

In the neutral group may be placed those birds in
which the beneficial and harmful qualities about bal-
ance. This includes five birds: the catbird, the cedar-
bird, the crow, the crow blackbird, and the blue jay.

The remainder of our common birds belong to the
beneficial group. This group may be further sub-

STRIKING THE BALANCE 111

divided into two classes, those chiefly beneficial and
those almost wholly beneficial.

In the class of chiefly beneficial birds may be
placed those which may at times do appreciable
harm, but which, taken the country over and
throughout the entire year, do much more good than
harm. This would include the bobolink, the cow-
bird, the red-winged blackbird, the robin, the brown
thrasher, the bluebird, the mourning dove, the
meadowlark, the phcebe, the kingbird, the chebec,
the wood pewee, and the red-headed woodpecker.

To the group of almost wholly beneficial birds
belong the remainder of the common birds, which
do so little harm that it is of small economic im-
portance. Such birds are the thrushes, the vireos,
the native sparrows, the cuckoos, the wrens, the
swallows, the warblers, the chickadees, the wood-
peckers, and the bob-white.

The birds included in each of these four groups
are given in the following table and the harm and
good done by each briefly indicated: —

INJURIOUS BIRDS

Name of bird Harm done Good done
Cooper’s hawk. Eats poultry and na- Eats a few mice.
tive birds.
Sharp-shinned hawk. Eats poultry and na- Eats a few mice.
tive birds.
Sapsucker. Injures trees and wood Eats some insect pests
products. and weed seeds.
English sparrow. Eats grain; drivesaway Eats insect pests and

native birds. weed seeds.

112

BIRD FRIENDS

NEUTRAL BIRDS, OR BIRDS OF DOUBTFUL UTILITY

Name of bird

Catbird.
Cedar-bird
Crow.

Crow blackbird.

Blue jay.

Harm done

Eats cultivated fruit.
Eats cultivated fruit.

Good done

Eats insect pests.
Eats a few insect pests.

Eats grain, and eggs and Eats insect pests.

nestlings of valuable
birds.

Eats grain, and eggsand Eats some insect pests

nestlings of valuable
birds.
Eats grain, and eggs

and nestlings of valu-

able birds.

and weed seeds.

Eats some insect pests.

BIRDS CHIEFLY BENEFICIAL

Name of bird

Harm done

Red-winged blackbird. Eats grain.

Bluebird.
Bobolink.

Cowbird.

Mourning dove.

Flycatchers (king-
bird, phoebe, pe-
wee, chebec).

Meadowlark.

Robin.
Brown thrasher.

Red-headed wood-
pecker.

Eats beneficial insects.
Eats rice.

Destroys nestlings of
other birds.

Eats grain.

Eat beneficial insects.

Eats grain and benefi-
cial insects.

Eats cultivated fruit.

Eats cultivated fruit
and beneficial in-
sects.

Eats beneficial insects,
grain, and cultivated
fruit, and injures
other birds.

Good done

Eats insect pests and
weed seeds.

Eats insect pests.

Eats insect pests and
weed seeds.

Eats weed seeds.

Eat insect pests.

Eats insect pests and
weed seeds.

Eats insect pests.

Eats insect pests

Eats insect pests.

STRIKING THE BALANCE 113

BIRDS ALMOST WHOLLY BENEFICIAL

Name of bird Good done
Bob-white. Eats insect pests and weed seeds.
Chickadee. Eats insect pests.
Cuckoos (two species). Eat insect pests.
Rose-breasted grosbeak. Eats insect pests and weed seeds.
Nighthawk. Eats insect pests.
Baltimore oriole. Eats insect pests.

Native sparrows (about fifty spe- Eat insect pests and weed seeds.
cies).

Swallows (six species). Eat insect pests
Vireos (six species). Eat insect pests.
Warblers (about forty species). Eat insect pests.
Woodpeckers (nine species). Eat insect pests.
House wren. Eats insect pests.

Taking one hundred species of birds as the num-
ber of more or less common birds that might be
found in a locality, they would be divided approxi-
mately as follows: —

ADJ UTIOUS os iscaisrinostuner tele sien saa duts elaine 4 per cent
INGUtial ix 5 x. oenauaicehinstisis, ave aus ane A SedeesanleGeune ns bE
Chiefly beneficial: a. a0 3.40.:5 saccwuaenrsaceneu ts i Ie rs
Almost wholly beneficial..................0000 78. sss

Or, to state the matter still more briefly, four per
cent do more harm than good, and ninety-one per
cent do more good than harm; that is, there are
about twenty-two times as many species of bene-
ficial birds as there are species of harmful birds.
So that when one comes to consider the total
amount of harm done by birds under all conditions,
and the total amount of good done under all con-
ditions, and when to the economic value is added
the great xsthetic value, we find that the amount
of harm done is relatively insignificant, while the

114 BIRD FRIENDS

amount of good done is of such tremendous impor-
tance that the birds stand out as one of man’s
greatest friends, both in adding to the pleasure of
living and in aiding man to raise those crops on
which his very existence depends.

Mr. Frank M. Chapman, the well-known bird
authority, writes in his “Handbook of Birds” : —

The more we learn of the food habits of birds, the greater
becomes the realization of our indebtedness to them, and
economic ornithologists now agree that, without the serv-

ices rendered by birds, the ravages of the animals they
prey upon would render the earth uninhabitable.

Mr. H. W. Henshaw, chief of the Bureau of Bio-
logical Survey, writes in an article published in the
“ National Geographic Magazine ”’: —

What would happen were birds exterminated no one
can foretell with absolute certainty, but it is more than
likely — nay, it is almost certain that within a limited
time not only would successful agriculture become im-
possible, but the destruction of the greater part of vege-
tation would follow. It is believed that a permanent
reduction in the numbers of our birds, even if no species
are exterminated, will inevitably be followed by disas-
- trous consequences.

The food habits of a few common birds are briefly
summarized in the following table, which is based
on the reports of the Bureau of Biological Survey.
In putting down the amount of grain eaten, the per
cent of waste grain has been subtracted from the
total per cent of grain eaten, thus leaving only

STRIKING THE BALANCE

115

that portion which can be considered to the bird’s
discredit. The hawks and owls are not given here,
as a table for them has been given in Chapter IX.
The figures represent the per cent of the total food
for the year that any item forms.

TABLE OF FOOD OF A FEW COMMON BIRDS

To bird's credit

To bird’s discredit

S > z b= rt = i ee
Name of bird Beak 3.38 sek | 3.2 ef | ‘S28
ag | Bei | BH! | def) GP SE
& & RMé&e & Bak
MRE TPE PEE | SE) SB | B52
Crow-blackbird..... 19 4 23, 3 22 6
Red-winged _ black-
i 20 57 17 s 7 5
47 aie 47 da 9
10 50 60 5 ee
24 86 60 ss 4 2
12 a 12 19 oe 3
10- a 10 13 ad ane
20 60 80 ye 8
ac iste aS 4 12 2
Mourning dove on ie 64 64 8
Flicker............. 55 te 55 1 2
Crested flycatcher... 70 70 or 8
Least flycatcher..... 52 52 13
Rose-breasted gros-

Beakicc visi siee sieeve 45 16 61 agi 2 5
Blue jay 19 a 19 2 9 4
Junco..... 17 62 79 is 4 a
Kingbird.... 50, ote 50 fe 4 13.
Horned lark . 15 64 19 8 2 30
Meadowlark. 56 7 63 ag 3 12
Baltimore ori 58 - 58 ee ee Re
Wood pewee 56 ete 56 az a9 11
Phoebe. 61 Fea 51 ig sc 10
Robin. . ee 33 Me 33 8 ae 6
Sie aed sparrow... 28 53 81 ile 2 1
tine ish sparrow..... aa 24. 24 a 74 lips
Field sparrow....... 80 40 70 ee 4 4
Song sparrow....... 18 50 68 ai 2 2
Vesper sparrow..... 22 42 64 ae 6 2
Brown thrasher..... 33 aa 33 8 3 8
Wood thrush.......} 38, 38. 4 Be 2
Downy woodpecker. . 69 69 as 1 2
Hairy woodpecker. . . 72 72 1 1
Red-headed = wood-

pecker. .......... 21 21 8 4 9
House wren .....-..| 69 69 oye are 6

Total debit
(per cent)

CHAPTER XII

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS

THERE are certain natural agencies which tend
to keep birds in check and prevent their too great
increase, and these agencies are necessary to pre-
serve the balance of nature, else birds might be-
come so numerous as to be harmful. Since the
white man came to this country he has been re-
sponsible both directly and indirectly for other
agencies tending to check bird life. The question
naturally arises as to whether all these causes com-
bined are tending to reduce bird life to such a mini-
mum that extermination of certain species is threat-
ened, or their reduction to such small numbers that
they are no longer able to keep insects in check.
We will first investigate the question as to whether
the birds have decreased in numbers, either as re-
gards the number of species or the number of in-
dividuals. ,

Extinct birds. Within the past sixty-five years
several species of birds, which were formerly found
in some portion of the United States, have become
extinct, and the last stages of the extermination of
two species are being enacted at the present time.
Two species, the great auk, and the Labrador duck,

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 117

are certainly extinct; one species, the passenger
pigeon, is probably extinct; and one species, the
Eskimo curlew, is nearly if not already extinct. In
the case of three of these species it is known that
destruction by man was the cause of the extermina-
tion. Following is the list: —

Name of bird Date of last Where found formerly

one seen

Great auk (certainly ex-

tinct): soee2 censuses 1853 Northern North America.
Northern Europe.
Labrador duck (certainly
extinct)............4. 1875 Northern Atlantic Coast.

Passenger pigeon (prob-
ably extinct).......... 1908 Canada and Northern
United States
Eskimo curlew (nearly ex-
TNC) s eectiomelecnels vc 1913 Atlantic Coast of North
America.

Besides these, five other species of birds, for-
merly found in the West Indies and one species
found in the Bering Islands, have become extinct.
Little is known of their history or of the cause of
their extermination.

The passenger pigeon. The passenger pigeon was
formerly found widely distributed in the United
States east of the Rocky Mountains, and in such
enormous numbers that it is difficult to appreciate
the meaning of the records which were kept by
men of that time. They passed in flocks which
darkened the sun and required hours to pass over.

118 BIRD FRIENDS

About a hundred years ago Alexander Wilson re-
corded a flight of pigeons which he estimated to be
one mile wide and 240 miles long. Judged from the
time it took to pass over, which was four hours, he
estimated that this flock contained over 2,000,000-
000 birds. These pigeons nested together in large
colonies with many nests in a single tree. Audubon
records a breeding-place several miles in breadth
and forty miles in extent.

During the first half of the last century the birds
decreased very noticeably in numbers and by the
middle of the century this decrease was being no-
ticed by bird-students, although enormous flocks
were seen occasionally at this time, and even for
twenty years later in certain States. The last large
nesting-place was recorded in Miichigan, in 1878,
covering a space of 100,000 acres. But from this
time on, the records of this bird became fewer and
fewer, and the last authentic record was in 1908.
A single bird was kept in captivity in the Cincin-
nati Zodlogical Garden for several years after this.
This bird, believed to be the last of its race, died on
September 1,1914. “any efforts have been made in
recent years to find the passenger pigeon and prizes
offered, but without avail, so that we are driven to
the conclusion that there is not now left a single liv-
ing bird of a species which was, within the memory
of men now living, the most abundant species of
bird in this country.

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 119

The cause of this shameful extermination is well
known. It was the capture of birds for sale in the
market as food. It was the general custom during
the migration season, when these enormous flocks
appeared, for people to turn out and kill pigeons.
Some hunters made it a business to follow them
from place to place to secure them for market. In
the days of their abundance they nested in large
colonies in areas forty miles long and three or four
miles wide. Great numbers of men, women, and
children, armed with guns, clubs, and nets, came to
these nesting-places and massacred both old and
young birds during the entire night. The young in
the nest were considered great delicacies. The birds
were so numerous that they were easily killed in
enormous numbers. Sometimes a single shot would
kill dozens of birds.

They were also caught in nets and several hun-
dred were so caught at one time. Sometimes a single
hunter killed as many as a thousand pigeons in a
day. They were hunted both day and night and
were sent to market, where they were sold for
twelve to fifty cents a dozen. In 1874, from a nest-
ing-place in Michigan, one hundred barrels were
shipped daily for thirty days, or about a million
and a half birds. In another year about fourteen
million birds were sent to market. In 1881, in an-
other part of the same State, five hundred men were
netting pigeons and took about ten million birds.

120 BIRD FRIENDS

With such figures as these at hand it is easy to
understand how the passenger pigeon became ex-
terminated. The economic status of this species is
not known, but the sad fate of the bird shows that
any wild bird is in danger of extermination when it
is hunted for commercial purposes.

The Eskimo curlew. The Eskimo curlew is an-
other example of an abundant bird rendered nearly
extinct through market demand. It was to be found
on the Atlantic Coast in enormous flocks up to
about fifty years ago. Since that time the bird has
gradually disappeared, till now it is seldom seen.
A few have been taken in the last three years, but
it seems only a matter of a few years till it becomes
absolutely extinct. The cause is the same as for
the passenger pigeon, continued and unrestricted
shooting to meet the market demand.

Species in danger of extermination. Other birds
have been decreasing in numbers at such a rate
that they are threatened with extinction unless
some radical measures are taken to preserve those
that are still left. Following are some of the birds
which seem to be most in danger of extermina-
tion: Carolina paroquet, whooping crane, trumpeter
swan, snowy heron, American egret, woodcock, and
many shore-birds, including the golden plover, pec-
toral sandpiper, knot, upland plover, willet, and
dowitcher.

Decrease of game-birds. There is general agree-

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 121

ment among all bird-students that there has been
a very marked decrease among the game-birds, wild
fowl, and shore-birds during the last twenty-five
years, in some cases threatening extinction, as men-
tioned in the previous paragraph. In 1901, Mr.
W. T. Hornaday sent a questionnaire to bird-stu-
dents in all parts of the United States asking their
opinion regarding the decrease in birds in their lo-
calities during the past fifteen years. One hundred
and ninety reports were received. Almost without
exception, these all agreed that there had been a very
marked decrease in the number of game-birds, some
estimating the decrease as high as ninety per cent.

Mr. E. H. Forbush, in 1907, made a detailed
study of the conditions in the State of Massachu-
setts. A list of fifty-eight species of game-birds,
wild fowl, and shore-birds was sent to about five
hundred gunners and ornithologists in the State,
and these were asked to report on the increase or
decrease of each species. In the case of every spe-
cies, some observers reported a decrease, while
there were four species for which every one reported
a decrease. For every one of the fifty-eight species,
more observers reported a decrease than reported an
increase. Usually the numbers reporting a decrease
were much larger than those reporting an increase.
Taking all the birds together, the average number
of observers reporting an increase for each bird was
ten, while the average number reporting a decrease

122 BIRD FRIENDS

was sixty-four, so that for one region of the State
where a bird had increased, there were six regions
where it had decreased. For twenty species ten
times as many observers reported the birds to be
decreasing as to be increasing. The per cent of de-
crease reported ranged from fifty to seventy-five;
the per cent of increase from twenty-five to fifty.

Have the song-birds decreased? These instances
are enough to prove conclusively that the game-
birds, wild fowl, and shore-birds have decreased
very markedly. We may next inquire if this is also
true of the common song-birds. In the report of
Mr. Hornaday to which reference has already been
made the statement is made that birds had de-
creased forty-six per cent during the previous fifteen
years. In 1904, Mr. E. H. Forbush made a careful
study of the relative abundance of song-birds found
in Massachusetts. Reports were received from
about two hundred bird-students to whom ques-
tions had been sent relative to the abundance of
birds compared with that in previous years. From
these reports Mr. Forbush concludes that the num-
bers of the smaller birds have remained about the
same, excepting in and near towns and cities, where
there has been a decrease. A decrease in herons,
hawks, and owls was noted. The following quotation
is taken from this report: —

The smaller native birds fluctuate, some species de-
creasing in some localities and increasing in others, but

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 123

apparently holding their own very well, in general. There
may be a slight decrease in the aggregate, owing to the
evident diminution of many species in and near cities,
with no corresponding increase in the country. There
appears to be no general and noticeable reduction in the
rural sections except where the birds are subjected to an
unusual amount of persecution. On the whole, the bal-
ance of life among the smaller birds seems to be fairly
maintained.

Information received from other states along the
Atlantic seaboard seems to indicate, that, as here, shore
birds and game birds are decreasing, while the insectiv-
orous birds are, with some exceptions, holding their own.

Comparing the conclusions of Messrs. Hornaday
and Forbush with reference to the song-birds, we
may note, first, that Mr. Hornaday’s figures repre-
sent the decrease for all birds, game-birds included,
while Mr. Forbush is speaking here of song-birds
only; and furthermore, it is probable that some of
those who answered Mr. Hornaday’s questions had
the game-birds specially in mind. So far as there
is any discrepancy between these reports, doubt-
less Mr. Forbush’s report is more nearly correct.
His report was based on the observations of two
hundred people from many parts of the State,
while Mr. Hornaday’s report, as far as Massachu-
setts is concerned, was based on the observations
of only eleven people, more than half of whom
lived in or near cities.

‘¢ Bird-Lore’s ’? Christmas census. The readers
of “ Bird-Lore”’ have been making a Christmas

124 BIRD FRIENDS

census of birds for about fifteen years. These re-
cords have now been kept long enough to throw
some light on the question as to whether the winter
birds have changed in numbers. In “ Bird-Lore ”
for January-February, 1914, was published a sum-
mary of the reports from 1901 to 1911. Graphs are
shown representing the abundance of ten species
for the different years. The graphs for four species
are very regular and show practically no change
during the ten years. The graphs for five species
are quite irregular, showing fluctuations from year
to year, but on the average there is no tendency
toward any regular change, either an increase or a
decrease.

Mr. Frank L. Burns made a bird-census during
the nesting-seasons of 1899-1901 of the birds found
on a 640-acre farm in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Thir-
teen years later, in 1914, he made another census
of the same area. In the first census he found sixty-
two species represented by 1388 individuals; in
the last census he found sixty species represented
by 1424 individuals. This would seem to indicate
that on the whole birds were holding their own on
this area. Mr. Burns writes, ““ The tendency seems
to be toward a less varied fauna and increase of
individuals of the more adaptive species.”

United States census of birds. The Bureau of
Biological Survey has begun taking a series of cen-
suses which will eventually answer the question as

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 125

to whether birds are changing in numbers. The
first census was taken in 1914. During the nesting-
season of that year a census was taken by several
hundred observers on farms situated in different
parts of the United States, but chiefly in the north-
eastern section. These reports showed that there
was an average of one pair of birds to the acre. At
this rate there would be about 350,000,000 pairs of
adult birds on the farms east of the Mississippi
River. The following quotation is taken from a cir-
cular describing the census: —

That the present bird population is much less than it
ought to be, and much less than it would be if birds were
given proper protection and encouragement, is the most
important deduction from this preliminary census. An
approximate average of one pair of birds to each acre of
land was found, but individual censuses showed that it
is possible, under strictly farm conditions, very largely
to increase this number. Near Wellington, Virginia, a
tract of forty-nine acres of a dairy farm, of rather less
than the average of ploughed ground, supported a bird
population of one hundred and thirty-seven pairs, or three
pairs to the acre. On a forty-acre farm in Rantoul, Kan-
sas, after fourteen years of bird protection and encourage-
ment, there were found one hundred and fifty-seven pairs
of birds, or about four pairs of birds to the acre.

It is evident from the foregoing statement that double
the present bird population is easily obtainable, while
a threefold increase is well within the possibilities.

It was noticeable that the blocks most thickly in-
habited by people were also most fully occupied by
breeding birds. This is a striking refutation of the wide-
spread belief that human beings and birds are naturally

126 BIRD FRIENDS

antagonistic, and that as the population of the United
States increases the number of birds must necessarily
decrease.

On the author’s place of three acres, situated on
the edge of a city of ten thousand population, there
were fifteen pairs of birds representing seven species,
nesting during 1914. One village of twenty-three
acres showed an average of seventeen pairs of birds
per acre. One man in Chevy Chase, Maryland,
reported thirteen pairs nesting in a half-acre yard.
The record for the largest number of birds comes
from a farm in Maryland, where fifty-nine pairs of
birds were found nesting on a single acre.

In this census the robin was found to be the most
abundant bird, with six pairs per farm of fifty-
eight acres, and the English sparrow next, with
five pairs per farm. For every one hundred robins
reported there were eighty-three English sparrows,
forty-nine catbirds, thirty-seven brown thrashers,
twenty-eight house wrens, twenty-seven kingbirds,
and twenty-six bluebirds.

It may be considered, then, that the following
statements represent the approximate truth at the
present time relative to the abundance of birds: (1)
some birds have become extinct; (2) other birds are
threatened with extinction; (3) the game-birds, wild
fowl, shore-birds, and egrets have greatly decreased
in numbers in recent years; (4) hawks and owls
have decreased to some extent; (5) song-birds have

CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 127

decreased in the neighborhood of cities; (6) in the
country there has been no appreciable change in
the numbers of song-birds; (7) the numbers of these
birds could be considerably increased with advan-
tage to man without disturbing nature’s balance.

CHAPTER XIII

THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS

Tue facts presented in the preceding chapter nat-
urally lead one to inquire what are the forces that
have caused the great decrease of some birds, and
that are holding our song-birds in check and pre-
venting their increase. In the report by Mr. For-
bush to which reference has already been made
statistics were gathered regarding the causes of the
decrease of birds.

The following is taken from his report for the
State of Massachusetts, with a few of the minor
causes omitted: —

Man THE EXTERMINATOR

The reports on the diminution of bird life, as caused
directly or indirectly by man, may be tabulated as fol-
lows to show the relative importance of each cause: —

Cause Number of observers

Sportsmen, or (so-called “sportsmen”’)..............055

Italians and other foreigners............0 ce eseeeeeees 70
Cutting off timber and sbrubbery.................0055 62
Market hunters: 2 cecsleisccnveerosuen < 4s avert in onssrantonasete 57
Bird shooters and trappers... 22... 2... cece cece neces 32
Egg collectors, boys and others..............c0c0e00ee 32
Millinérs* Hunters cecal veahaaid ssouwrsousdGien eatin cate 18
Draining marshes and meadows.............0.eeeeeeee 17

Gun clubs and hunting contests ..........0..00ceceecee 16

THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS 129°

The natural enemies of birds, noted as harmful by
the observers who have contributed to this portion of
the report, may be arranged in the following order, with
reference to the number reporting each: —

Natural enemy Number of ob-

servers reporting
Cats eels sae wal D¥ie to 84 oe Qua tetaiee oe ease 82
POXESie savance ac aves Sea x MaRS Rs See eT Ses 58
CROWS sein, bre dita et Revel actocaann eusialien nd 44°45. S ean 54
Squirrels), ccunsvee essa tosses weuneieeteeteecs ceaees 42
Englishisparrowst cs. cecac06% seaaii wars ey eee sa ee 39
TET Gh WS se cae ected sseaer zu usta aas canauerausaaeeatuaacAcr Hae secon ae IE 34

The enemies of birds may be arranged as follows
with special reference to the part that man has
played in their destruction: —

I. Natural enemies.
1. Four-footed enemies.
A. Squirrels.
B. Foxes, weasels, etc.
2. Feathered enemies.
A. Crow, blue jay, crow blackbird.
B. Hawks and owls.
83. The elements.
II. Man as an enemy.
1. Agencies for which man is indirectly responsible.
A. The cat.
B. The English sparrow.
2. Agencies for which man is directly responsible.
A. Unavoidable destruction.
a. Cutting off timber and shrubbery.
b. Draining marshes.
c. Lighthouses.
d. Wires (telegraph, telephone, trolley, elec-
tric lighting).

130 BIRD FRIENDS

B. Needless destruction.
. Shooting for sport.
. Market hunters.
. Milliners’ hunters.
. Egg-collecting.
. Shooting song-birds for food.

no coms

Among the agencies destructive to bird life are
natural enemies which were operative before the
advent of the white man, and most of which are
still in existence, although many have been de-
stroyed by man.

Squirrels. Among the squirrels the red squirrel
is one of the worst offenders. When it is common,
it is a serious enemy of small birds. It eats both
eggs and young birds. It is able to reach almost
any bird’s nest and the small birds can do little to
protect themselves from it. When the red squirrels
are present in excessive numbers, it may be neces-
sary to reduce their numbers to protect the birds.
The gray squirrel and chipmunk occasionally feed
on young birds, but not so commonly as does the
red squirrel.

Other four-footed enemies. Other animals that
may at times destroy eggs and young birds are
foxes, weasels, minks, and skunks. Probably none
of these, except when numerous, is to be consid-
ered a serious enemy of the song-birds. As these
animals are rare throughout many portions of the
United States, they do not usually do much dam-
age.

THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS 131

Feathered enemies. There is strong evidence
that the crow, blue jay, and crow blackbird at
times do much damage, especially the crow, in de-
stroying eggs and the young of small birds. These
birds have been repeatedly observed to attack the
nests of other birds, and some students consider
the crow the worst natural enemy of small birds.

An examination of eleven hundred stomachs of
crows, made by the Bureau of Biological Survey,
showed that fifty, or about five per cent, had fed
on wild birds or their eggs. In the same bulletin is
the following reference to the egg-eating habit of
the blue jay: “As this trait of the jay appears to be
most pronounced during its own breeding season, it
is quite possible for many birds which have suffered
from his boldness early in the season to raise an-
other brood unmolested.” This egg-destroying
habit is probably not true of all crows and jays,
but is limited to a certain number of individuals.

Among the hawks are found some of the worst
natural enemies of birds, the chief offenders being
the pigeon hawk, Cooper’s hawk, and sharp-shinned
hawk. They attack the adult birds, and our small
insectivorous birds make up over half of the food
of the sharp-shinned hawk.

The owls occasionally feed on small birds, but
not nearly so frequently as hawks. They are not to
be considered serious enemies of the small birds.
Shrikes feed to some extent on small birds, which

132 BIRD FRIENDS

comprise about one fourth of their food. Among
these, however, are included:'a good many English
sparrows.

The elements. Birds which spend the winter in
the northern United States may suffer severely
from the extreme cold and from lack of food on
account of the deep snows and the coating of ice
on trees that cover their food-supply. Many birds
perish every severe winter. The lack of food is one
of the chief reasons for this mortality. With plenty
of food birds can withstand very low temperatures,
but when they are only half fed, they easily suc-
cumb to the cold.

Mortality during winter. In Massachusetts, Mr.
Forbush made a study of this matter during the
winter of 1903 to 1904 from reports received from
seventy-five correspondents. These reports showed
that during the first half of the winter, birds were
present in about their usual number, but as the
severity of the weather increased, the number of
birds began to decrease, till by the end of the winter
a very noticeable mortality was universally reported,
and many birds were found dying of cold and
hunger; and it was the opinion of those best fitted
to judge that most of the birds which usually win-
tered there were either starved or frozen.

Among the greatest sufferers were the bob-white,
ruffed grouse, meadowlark, and flicker. In some
localities the bob-white was apparently entirely

THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF BIRDS 133

exterminated, Mr. Forbush estimating that it had
been reduced at least ninety-five per cent.

During the winter of 1911-12, which was excep-
tionally severe, many reports received from por-
tions of the northeastern United States indicated
that many birds perished. The sleet and snow cov-
ered their food so that the birds fell easy victims
to the low temperatures. Water-fowl perished by
the thousands on the Delaware River. In Iowa it
was estimated that seventy-five per cent of the
bob-whites and prairie chickens perished. In New
Jersey it was reported that grouse and quail were
dying from hunger on account of a coating of ice
beneath the snow, through which the birds could
not dig holes for food. Similar reports came from
Kansas. The marshes and coves by the sea, where
water-birds usually stay, froze so that the birds
were not able to secure food.

In the Jate winter of 1895, bluebirds were over-
taken by a spell of cold weather in the South, as a
result of which thousands perished. The diminished
number of bluebirds was very noticeable for many
years afterward.

Mortality during spring. Dr. T. S. Roberts re-
ports in “ The Auk” a Lapland longspur tragedy
that occurred in southern Minnesota and northern
Iowa in March, 1904. Apparently a great host of
these birds were migrating to their northern home
on the night in question, when they were over-

134 BIRD FRIENDS

taken by a snowstorm, and, becoming confused by
the darkness and snow, some were attracted by the
lights of the towns, where they dashed themselves
to the ground and against the buildings and per-
ished in enormous numbers. Many others, laden
with the heavy, wet snow, were evidently unable to
continue their flight and fell to the earth, where
they were stunned or killed. The next morning the
ground was strewn with dead birds. On two lakes
of an area of about two square miles, it was esti-
mated that a million birds had perished. The
total area in which this tragedy occurred was about
fifteen hundred square miles. If in two square
miles a million birds perished, it is difficult to
imagine what the destruction must have been
throughout the whole area.

Unseasonable storms, especially cold rains in
the spring, destroy a great many birds. The early
migrants are the birds most apt to be affected by
these storms.

During the nesting-period, prolonged seasons of
cold, rainy weather may render it difficult for the
birds to find food either for themselves or their
young, and the young may be chilled in the nest.
In 1903 the numbers of martins were reduced very
noticeably by this means in some sections of the
country. In portions of New England they were
almost wiped out.

CHAPTER XIV

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN: THE
CAT AND THE ENGLISH SPARROW

Comine now to the part that man has played
in the destruction of bird life, we will first consider
those agencies for which he is indirectly responsible,
namely, the cat and the English sparrow. The cat
was brought to this country as a pet by the white
man, and is now often so poorly fed and cared for,
and even entirely deserted by people, that man
must be held largely accountable for the harm that
cats do. In a similar way man is responsible for the
English sparrow, because it was introduced by him
into this country in 1851 and at later dates, and
has now become one of the worst enemies of cer-
tain song-birds.

The Cat

Method of doing harm. There is quite general
agreement among bird-students that cats are the
worst enemy of the song-birds. The chief harm is
done during the nesting-season. While the young
are in the nest, they are entirely helpless and un-
able to defend themselves against the cat. Not only
does the cat find nests on the ground, but it can

136 BIRD FRIENDS

easily climb trees and reach the nests there, so
that there are few places where birds build their
nests that are not accessible to the cat. And even
after the young leave the nest, many are caught
when learning to fly. Cats destroy also a great
many adult birds. When the parent birds are de-
fending their young against the attacks of the cat,
they often come within reach of the cat’s paws; and
even when birds are feeding on the ground, they
may be pounced upon by cats that are lurking near,
hidden in some shrub or tuft of grass. And again,
when birds are bathing, they are not able to fly and
so may be easily caught.

It seems to be a nearly universal instinct among
cats to delight in catching birds. Even when cats
are not hungry, they catch more birds than they
can eat, torturing them in the most sickening fash-
ion. Mr. Neil W. Ladd, of Greenwich, Connecti-
cut, reports that his household Angora cat, though
loaded with bells, brought to their veranda thirty-
two birds during one nesting-season and twenty-
eight birds during the next season, none of which
it ate.

The cat at best is only partially domesticated, and,
when deserted, as is so often the case by thought-
less people, it runs wild and lives almost entirely
on birds during the season when they can be ob-
tained. There are many thousands of these stray,
vagrant cats thus devastating our bird life, aided

CAT WITH ROBIN

A CAT THAT DOES NOT KILL BIRDS

He is kept in or caged during the night, fed regularly, and given a
good breakfast before his morning liberty

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 187

by many other thousands of pet cats, which hunt
birds, not so much from hunger as from a natural
instinct to kill birds.

Most people do not realize the harm done by
cats because they work quietly, on the sly, chiefly
in the early morning, before most people have
arisen. Mr. Forbush’s investigations showed that
about ninety per cent of the cats are allowed to
roam at night. At earliest daybreak they attack
the young birds in the nest, frequently killing also
the mother bird on the nest. And then, too, the
nests which the cats attack are frequently so well
hidden that a person who is not specially watching
does not see the tragedies that are being enacted
there.

The control of the cat, as one of the chief enemies,
if not the chief enemy, of bird life, is one of the
pressing questions to be solved by those interested
in bird-protection. In order that the harm done by
cats may be more generally appreciated, below is
given a list of quotations from a number of bird-
students. These quotations will suffice to show that
the views expressed in these pages are not simply
those of the author alone: —

The most important problem confronting bird pro-
tectors to-day is the devising of a proper means for the
disposition of the surplus cat population of this country.
(Frank M. Chapman, Curator of Birds in the American

Museum of Natural History and author of several well-
known bird books.)

138 BIRD FRIENDS

The cat is more dangerous to birds than is any native
mammal that roams our woods, for it is nocturnal, a
splendid climber, a good stalker, a strong leaper, and is
very quick and active. (E. H. Forbush, State Ornitholo-
gist of Massachusetts.)

There is no wild bird or animal in the United States
whose destructive inroads on our bird population are
in any sense comparable to the widespread devastation
created by the domestic cat. (T. Gilbert Pearson, secre-
tary of the National Association of Audubon Societies.)

The cat is acknowledged to be one of the most de-
structive of all the bird enemies and is, therefore, an ex-
pensive luxury. If crops are worth money, the birds that
save them from pest destruction are worth money, and
the cat takes money out of your pocket every time it
catches a bird. As birds decrease in numbers, insect pests
increase and eat our crops, plants and trees. (Charles
H. Pease, secretary of the Connecticut Commission of
Fisheries and Game.)

Field naturalists and others who have studied condi-
tions surrounding our native birds, agree that the house
cat is as destructive to birds as all other natural enemies
combined. (A. K. Fisher, of the Bureau of Biological
Survey.)

Taking into account bird life in general, the cat is un-
doubtedly the most destructive mammal we have, and
the aggregate number of birds annually killed by them is
enormous. (Henry W. Henshaw, chief of the United
States Bureau of Biological Survey.)

In such thickly settled communities as our northern
States, from the Atlantic Coast to the sandhills of Kan-
sas and Nebraska, the domestic cat is probably the great-
est four-footed scourge of bird life. That cats destroy
annually in the United States several millions of very
valuable birds, seems fairly beyond question. (William
T. Hornaday, Director of New York Zodlogical Fark.)

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 139

John Burroughs says that cats destroy more
birds than all other animals combined.

William Dutcher, president of the National
Association of Audubon Societies, considers the wild
house cat one of the greatest causes of bird destruc-
tion known.

Mr. E. H. Forbush found that nearly a hundred
correspondents scattered through all the counties
of Massachusetts reported the cat as one of the
greatest enemies of birds, a larger number reporting
this than any other enemy.

M. Raspail in France watched sixty-seven nests
for one season and found that forty-one of these
were destroyed. Fifteen of these were robbed by
cats, which destroyed more nests than any other
single enemy.

The destruction of birds by cats means a direct
economic money loss. It means an increase of in-
sect pests. This increase means more destruction
of crops, which means smaller yields and smaller
financial returns: more cats — fewer birds — more
insects — smaller crops — less money.

Number of birds killed by cats. There are enough
data available so that one may secure an approx-
imate estimate of the number of birds killed by
cats in a year.

Mr. A. C. Dyke reports a pet cat that was well
fed, which was actually seen to kill fifty-eight birds
in one season, including the young in five nests.

140 BIRD FRIENDS

Mr. E. H. Forbush estimates that a mature cat
in good hunting-grounds kills, on the average, fifty
birds a year. He saw a cat kill all the young in six
nests and two parent birds in a day. He also re-
ports two instances where more than ten birds were
killed by a cat in one day, and another where seven
were killed.

In “Bird-Lore ”’ for March-April, 1915, and in a
bulletin on the “ Domestic Cat,’’ Mr. Forbush gives
some interesting results of his investigations regard-
ing the cat. A series of questions was sent out to a
number of people in Massachusetts, and answers
received from more than four hundred. These
showed that one hundred and seven species of birds
killed by cats had been identified by the writers.
Following is a partial list of the birds reported: —

Name of bird killed Number of ob-
Servers reporting
Ro Bins wiid say 2 enndn a in eet eae nantes oe canteen Saetlacees 272
MBL Ue ai ec 5 scsnacsvsetiesedalare Goes ss eevd anew MORN ee 75
Bong lish Sparro wee ois cocccrdsscane ods vow Suspense aoe 72
Chipping sparrow.......... Uiuinem gnesapye a oneeaeee ned 54
CBT UR io 8 2 cca oa uaedon taytoeatstolas oli wes tipeets ood onsngra ean nee 52
Rou fheds grouse ass 5x acdevd nn aectutea edo hecho ao udaeaeiai, Rae 46
SONG SparrOwiieciuc esate ew eu iouaieniies cintvaterena srs 46
Boba white sos 2 suds aceccizvacssavusiasdvasasbialn seq: dcthe annua oyecpveeeeghdeeess 44
Barn swallows, gercwcudsnsaeasakstass es vs cs eae eos a 42
PUMCO YR waz saecutstans apataletadl On an eavan evsreeshoeasvemas ah tee 34
Bluejays ccntes sess ented ncaeieGelas beaks mano’ 25
CHICKA GE costs oscnve ca water neenieinn cates eee Sao: 24
NICK GR cg goss ving 5 ae pasniceaanaydisntauceslsid RE 2 ote ontasts roe 24
‘Mellow warblet:ci accor ocaveneavette wax nae eeaee ince 20
ET OUSE WHET Gatch eri poses yr tcetiestentenaseteraees dca nichat oases oan mre 16
Meadowlark: sew teulectints och bie caer Sie iccne we an dexanines 14
Balti ore“oriole: asgescctetewhiien ste ora sases an rcs 8 13

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 141

Numerous correspondents had known individual
cats to kill from two to eight birds in a day, though
the average was much smaller. In several cases cats
were known to kill almost or more than fifty birds
in a year.

The reports showed that —

226 cats killed 624 birds in one day, an average per day of 2.7.
32 cats killed 239 birds in one week, an average per week of 7.9.

15 cats killed 307 birds in one month, an average per month of 20.4.
47 cats killed 534 birds in one year, an average per year of 11.3.

The average for the year is small because few
persons kept careful account of the birds killed
during a whole year, while others, whose cats had
been “taught not to kill birds,” reported that their
cats had killed only one, two, or three birds in a year.

If we assume that these cats continued to kill
birds at the same rate for one month and average
them all, taking into account the number of cats
in each group, the average for a month is 62. If we
give the four groups equal consideration, regard-
less of the number in each group, the average num-
ber killed is 33. The average of the third group
alone, comprising 15 cats, is 20.4. And if finally
we average these three averages, the result is 38.
In order to make a conservative estimate, we will
take the lowest of the four averages, 20.4 as the
average number of birds killed in a month by one
cat. It is fair to assume that a cat would continue
to kill birds at this rate during at least one month

142 BIRD FRIENDS

in the height of the nesting-season, when young
birds are easily caught, and when most of the harm
is done.

Number of birds killed by cats in Massachusetts.
These investigations of Mr. Forbush give data for
forming some estimate of the total number of birds
killed each year by cats in the State of Massachu-
setts. It was found that an average of about one
cat per family was kept in towns and nearly three
cats per farm in the country, so that we may take
two cats per farm as a fair average. There are in
Massachusetts 37,000 farms supporting about 74-
000 cats. As previously shown, the average num-
ber of birds killed by one cat during one month of
the nesting-season was 20.4. This multiplied by
74,000 gives a total of 1,509,600 birds, probably
mostly young birds, killed annually by cats on the
farms of Massachusetts, or, in round numbers, one
and a half millions.

We may next inquire what per cent of the total
bird population this number comprises. In a bird-
census conducted by the United States Bureau of
Biological Survey, it was found that there was an
average of one pair of nesting birds per acre on the
farms of the northeastern United States. In Massa-
chusetts there are about 2,800,000 acres of farm-
land, which, in accordance with the above census,
support 2,800,000 pairs of birds. Assuming that
each pair reared two young birds to at least partial

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 143

maturity would give a total of 5,600,000 young
birds for the first brood. We may also estimate the
second brood from the data furnished by the cen-
sus, in accordance with which there would be in
Massachusetts about

300,000 pairs of robins.

250,000 pairs of English sparrows.
78,000 pairs of house wrens.
72,000 pairs of bluebirds.

700,000 pairs in all.

Assuming again two young reared in the second
brood gives a total of 1,400,000. This, added to
the number of the first brood and to the number of
adults, gives a total of 12,600,000 birds on the farms
of Massachusetts. In accordance with the previous
estimate that cats kill about one and a half millions,
this would mean that they destroy annually about
one eighth of the total bird population found on the
farms of Massachusetts.

Mr. Forbush, in his bulletin on the “‘ Domestic
Cat,” quotes the following estimates: —

Dr. George W. Field, chairman of the Massachusetts
Commission on Fisheries and Game, estimates that there
is at least one stray cat to every hundred acres in the
State, and that each cat kills on the average at least one
bird every ten days through the season, making the an-
nual destruction of birds by stray cats in the State
approximate 2,000,000.

Dr. A. K. Fisher, in charge of Economic Investiga-

144 BIRD FRIENDS

tions of the Biological Survey, estimates that the cats
of New York State destroy 3,500,000 birds annually.

Mr. Albert H. Pratt calculates that the farm cats of
Tlinois kill about 2,500,000 annually.

Number of birds killed by cats in the eastern
United States. The average of these estimates for
the three States is about one hundred birds killed
per square mile. If this average is applied to all
the States east of the Mississippi River, it would
give a total of 85,000,000 birds killed annually by
cats in the eastern United States.

We may also make a rough estimate from the
number of farms and families in the country. There
are in the United States east of the Mississippi
River 3,800,000 farms. If we take the conditions
in Massachusetts as being typical of the rest of the
country in averaging two cats to a farm, these farms
support 7,600,000 cats. On the farm, where there
are excellent hunting-grounds for the cat, it is a
very conservative estimate that each cat averages
to kill ten birds in a year, making a total of 76,000,-
000 birds killed annually by cats on the farms of
the eastern United States.

An estimate may also be made of the number of
birds killed by town cats. According to the census
of 1910, the urban population of the United States
east of the Mississippi River, living in towns and
cities of twenty-five hundred and over, was 33,-
500,000, comprising about 7,400,000 families. The

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 145

cats kept by families living in the more crowded
portions of the large cities can do little harm to
native birds, because few birds are present. In 1910
there were east of the Mississippi River 37 cities
having a population of over one hundred thousand,
making a total of 16,700,000, comprising about
3,700,000 families. Subtracting this number from
the total number of families given above leaves
3,700,000 families living in towns and cities where
cats might find birds to kill. The number of fami-
lies living in the centers of cities with a population
of less than one hundred thousand, where few birds
are found, would be about balanced by the number
of families living in the suburbs of the large cities
where birds are found.

At the last census there were about one million
families east of the Mississippi River living in in-
corporated places of less than twenty-five hundred.
This added to the previous number gives 4,700,000
families living in the towns and smaller cities where
birds are found quite commonly.

Mr. Forbush’s investigations in Massachusetts
showed that in the towns the average number of
cats per family was about one. Allowing one cat
per family throughout the country would give a to-
tal of 4,700,000 cats kept by these families. If we
assume that the farm cat in good hunting-grounds
kills ten birds a year, we may assume that the
town cat, under less favorable conditions, aver-

146 BIRD FRIENDS

ages to kill five birds annually. This would give a
total of 23,500,000 birds killed by these town cats.
This added to the number destroyed by farm cats
gives a total of 99,500,000, or about one hundred
million birds killed annually by cats in the United
States east of the Mississippi River.

An estimate may be made of the percentage that
this forms of the total bird population. A census
taken of the birds on the farms in the United States
showed that there was an average of one pair to the
acre, making a total of about seven hundred mil-
lion birds east of the Mississippi River. If we as-
sume that each pair rears to at least partial matur-
ity two young birds, there would be approximately
a billion and a half birds in this area, of which num-
ber, in accordance with the above estimate, about
one fifteenth are destroyed by cats.

The above estimate does not take into account
the numerous stray and homeless cats, which in
the country doubtless may number as many as the
pet farm cats and may do fully as much harm. Mr.
Chapman says that there are not less than twenty-
five million cats in the United States and that there
may be double that number.

Cats as disease-carriers. One of the reasons
why cats are kept is to serve as pets. But even here
their value is doubtful, as it has been proved that
cats occasionally act as disease-carriers. Sometimes
they have the disease themselves and then carry

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 147

it directly to human beings; in other cases they
simply carry on their fur the disease germs which
are taken from infected sources. The scavenging
habits of cats in filthy places are well known. While
seeking food in these places and while rolling in the
dirt, their fur takes up the bacteria-laden dirt, and
these bacteria may then be transferred to children
and others who fondle the cat.

A few years ago Dr. Caroline A. Osborne made
a careful investigation of the evidence at hand re-
lating to the part that cats play in carrying diseases.
The results of her investigations were published
in the “ Chicago Medical Record.” In accordance
with the evidence there presented, it seems estab-
lished that cats are subject to the following dis-
eases which are also found in man: tuberculosis,
diphtheria, bubonic plague, whooping-cough, an-
thrax, ringworm, mange, tapeworm, trachina, gland-
ers, sleeping-sickness, pulmonary distomatosis, and
Asiatic liver fluke. Evidence is also presented which
indicates that the cat has been known to carry the
following diseases to human beings, either mechani-
cally on its fur or through having the disease itself:
diphtheria, bubonic plague, scarlet fever, smallpox,
ringworm, and mange. Rats are a source of dan-
ger as disease-carriers, and it is shown that cats
through contact with rats have been known to carry
bubonic plague and diphtheria to human beings.

Mr. Forbush in his investigations in Massachu-

148 BIRD FRIENDS

setts gathered evidence regarding the part that cats
play in the transmission of diseases. After con-
sultation with medical authorities, he reached the
conclusion that most of the data he had gathered
furnished only circumstantial evidence and were
inconclusive. But he concludes that the evidence
shows that “cats undoubtedly disseminate ring-
worm and rabies, and they may carry such infec-
tions as smallpox and scarlet fever; and in some
cases serious infections appear to have been trans-
mitted by the bites or scratches of cats.”

The evidence at hand proves conclusively that
cats have sometimes been the means of transmit-
ting diseases to. human beings. To determine ex-
actly what kinds of diseases and how frequently they
may be transmitted to human beings requires fur-
ther investigations.

Remedies. Bird-students are quite generally
agreed that a partial solution of the cat problem
lies in licensing cats. Owners of cats should be
required to pay an annual license, such as is now
required for dogs. This licensing would tend to re-
duce the number of cats, as people who now keep
several cats would then keep but one, and some
people would not keep any at all, and the cats that
were kept would be better cared for. Such a cat
license is required in St. Petersburg, Florida. The
town of Montclair, New Jersey, has recently passed
an ordinance to the effect that owners of cats shall

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 149

place marked tags or collars on their cats, and pro-
visions are made for the humane disposal of any
cats not thus marked.

This licensing should be accompanied by some
plan by means of which unlicensed stray cats would
be disposed of. The fee from the licenses might be
used to employ some one to capture and kill in some
humane way the vagrant cats. In Montclair an
animal warden has been appointed to look after the
enforcement of the cat and dog ordinances. The
license fees have been sufficient to pay his salary.
The destruction of these vagrant cats is a kindness
to the cats, as during the colder months of the
year they are not able to secure enough food and
consequently live in a half-starved condition. In
New York City alone, the Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals killed, during 1915,
175,000 sick, injured, and homeless cats. The mat-
ter of disposing of stray cats concerns the cat-lover
quite as much as the bird-lover.

Little can be done in training cats to let birds
alone. It is the exceptional cat that can be thus
trained. Belling the cat is another method of little
value. During the nesting-season of birds cats
should be shut up, especially at night and during
the early morning, and at all times should be well
fed so that they will not have hunger added to their
natural instinct as a stimulus to catch birds. The
following note is contributed to “ Bird-Lore”’ by

150 BIRD FRIENDS

Cornelia T. Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, Ver-
mont: —

We have solved the question of how to control our
family cat. His days are spent under the south piazza,
where he sits contentedly looking out through the netting
in front, or curls up in a box in a shady corner. After
the birds are quiet for the night, he is released. The good
supper that awaits him at nine o’clock never fails to
bring him to the door, where he is captured and safely
shut up for the night.

Another solution of the problem is to keep the
cat tethered to an overhead wire during the birds’
nesting-season.

As a matter of common decency no one has a
right to keep a cat that becomes a nuisance in kill-
ing birds on his neighbor’s place, any more than
he has a right to keep cows and horses and allow
them to roam at will over his neighbor’s garden.
Any one who wishes to attract birds around his
home in any considerable numbers must dispose of
the cats that trespass on his place, whether they
be stray cats or neighbors’ cats. These can be
caught by means of cat-traps, a number of which
are now in the market, for sale by some of the deal-
ers listed in Chapter XIX. Nests and nesting-boxes
may be protected from cats by wrapping a piece
of tin or zine, about eighteen inches wide, around
the tree or post four feet from the ground, and fas-
tening it there. Cats are not able to climb over this.

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 151

The cat is kept for two purposes, as a pet and as
a mouser. As a pet it may be dangerous to health,
and there are other pets that are equally or more
desirable. As a means of controlling rats and mice,
it is only moderately successful, and mice and rats
can be more effectually controlled by means of traps
and poisons. Mr. Forbush’s investigations in Mas-
sachusetts seem to indicate that only about one
fifth of the cats kept in country towns are efficient
ratters. And when these pests are once cleaned
out there is no need for keeping a cat.

Professor Nathaniel Southgate Shaler in his “ Do-
mesticated Animals,” writes as follows of the cat: —

The cat is the only animal that has been tolerated,
esteemed, and, at times, worshiped, without having a
single distinctly valuable quality. It is in a small way
serviceable in keeping down the excessive development
of small rodents, which from the beginning have been
the self-invited guests of man. As it is in a certain in-
different way sympathetic, and by its caressing appears
to indicate affection, it has awakened a measure of sym-
pathy which it hardly deserves. I have been unable to
find any authentic instances which go to show the exist-
ence in cats of any real love for their masters.

Mrs. Alice H. Walter, in “ Bird-Lore ” for Janu-
ary—February, 1915, summarizes the matter in the
following list of questions: —

Every person is free to his or her own opinion, but
conscientious answers to the following questions may

help some who are not decided as to the merits of this
question to make up their minds definitely : —

152 BIRD FRIENDS

1. Am I harboring a cat which may be a disease-carrier?

2. Does my cat trespass on the grounds of other peo-
ple and interfere with their plans for saving or at-
tracting birds?

3. How many wild birds does my cat catch and bring
to my notice every year?

4. Does my cat wander free at night, disturbing my
neighbors by fighting with other cats or by making
harassing noises?

5. Am I perfectly sure that my cat is a good mouser?

6. Am I sure that rats and mice about barns and
houses cannot be more effectively destroyed by
some other means than cats?

7. Am I justified in keeping cats which breed fre-
quently and in letting their progeny go here, there,
and everywhere?

8. Do I know how many stray cats are about my
neighborhood?

9. AmI taking a broad-minded view of the cat question?

Any person who considers this matter in the light of

the public welfare, instead of his own personal interests,
is the right kind of citizen. Nowadays, we live in com-
munities which are too thickly populated to warrant a
superabundance of any animal, be it cat, dog, bird, or
pig. Favor should be given to those creatures which are
doing the most good and not to those which are doing the
most harm.

The English Sparrow

Ways in which it is harmful. Perhaps the Eng-
lish sparrow ranks next to the cat as an enemy of
certain birds which it most directly affects. The birds
which it especially injures are those which seek simi-
lar nesting-sites, such as the wren, bluebird, martin,
and tree swallow. These: birds, like the sparrow,

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 153

all nest in cavities or nesting-boxes. The sparrows
remain all the year round and begin to nest before
the native birds have returned in the spring, so that
when they do return, they frequently find their
nesting-sites already occupied. And even when the
native birds have found an unoccupied ‘site, and
have started to build their nests, the sparrows often
come and attempt to drive them away, and as there
are so many more of the sparrows than of the na-
tive species they are usually successful.

The sparrows do not confine their persecution to
birds that seek similar nesting-sites, but may at-
tack other birds, such as the robin, vireo, and cat-
bird, and cause them to desert the places where
they are nesting. And the sparrows even attack
the nests of cliff swallows, and drive barn swallows
from the buildings where they are nesting. The
sparrows even go farther than this and sometimes
break the eggs and destroy young birds in the nests.

Professor Barrows gives a list of seventy-five
species of our native birds which English sparrows
have been reported to molest. The following table
shows the number of times they were reported to
have attacked certain birds: —

Bird attacked Number of different
records of attacking
Swallows: and martins jo v¢5 essa saewsaunae sc sied 440
TBIWeD Rd. sa cos ce aricecetaveuiualane aie -ece esa 'o aia eviovoverareladeunaiecn nde 377
Other sparrows .......0ccscceeeeeeeens Nader eee 273
Wrens vied dincansaccigmres Bee esas Sawieian sass Vs 191

154 BIRD FRIENDS

One thing that makes the sparrows so trouble-
some is the large number of young that they raise
each year. They begin nesting in late winter or
early spring and may rear five or six broods, in-
cluding from twenty to thirty young, in a season.
It has been estimated that the offspring from a sin-
gle pair of sparrows in ten years might number
275 ,000,000,000.

Remedies. Where bird-houses are put out to at-
tract native birds, the sparrows usually attempt to
occupy them, and must be driven away or killed if
we wish to induce the native birds to nest there.

The sparrow may be kept from using boxes in-
tended for smaller birds by making the hole so small
that the sparrows cannot enter. The sparrow can-
not enter a one-and-one-eighth-inch hole, but this
hole is large enough for the chickadee, and an inch
hole is large enough for the wren.

Sparrows may be prevented from rearing their
young in bird-boxes by removing their eggs every
week or two during the nesting-season, and some-
times the sparrows will leave as a result; but the
only satisfactory solution seems to be to kill the
sparrows. This may be done in three ways: by
shooting, by poisoning, and by trapping.

The enormous numbers of sparrows and the wide
range over which they are found might at first seem
to make any attempts at their destruction hope-
less. But experiments in the destruction of these

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 155

birds have shown that flocks and individuals have
a very narrow range, and confine their activities
largely to one locality, so that when a place has
once been freed of sparrows, some time passes be-
fore others come in. The following illustration of
this is given in the Farmers’ Bulletin No. 493, “ The
English Sparrow as a Pest ’’: —

This tendency to remain on a special territory was
well shown during a recent experiment with a flock in a
small garden. During the fall steady trapping reduced
the resident flock in the garden to a dozen individuals,
274 birds having been trapped. The survivors were
poisoned. Though another flock lived in the street just
beyond the fence, the garden was sparrow-free for three
months. In the following spring a few sparrows ap-
peared, but were soon trapped. After this the garden con-
tinued throughout the summer without a resident flock,
and only rarely was it visited by sparrows from other
parts of the neighborhood.

Shooting the sparrows. There are a number of
reports available which show that the sparrow can
be controlled by systematic shooting. Mr. Newton
Miller reports in “Bird-Lore” that for twenty-five
years on his father’s farm the sparrows were almost
completely kept under control by shooting. Each
spring from two to five pairs of sparrows came look-
ing for nesting-sites, but when these were shot, the
farm remained practically free from the pest for the
rest of the year.

Mr. E. H. Baynes reports from Meriden, New

156 BIRD FRIENDS

Hampshire, that the sparrows have been easily con-
trolled by shooting. During the first season a war-
fare was kept up with two guns for a number of
weeks till the sparrows that had not been shot left
town. About once a year a flock of from twenty to
thirty sparrows comes to Meriden from the surround-
ing villages, but these are quickly disposed of, or
driven away by a few days’ shooting.

Mr. E. H. Forbush reports that his farm has been
kept clear of sparrows for ten years by the practice
of shooting promptly the first one that appeared.

Mr. Neil M. Ladd gives the following suggestions
in the first annual report of the Greenwich Bird
Protective Society : —

Shooting accomplishes great results when done as
follows: Feed small grains from a small narrow trough
on the ground for several days until hundreds of sparrows
from the surrounding neighborhood flock to it the mo-
ment the food is put out. A shotgun so placed as to
sweep the length of the trough will kill dozens at each
shot. The gun can easily be secured in place and the
trigger released by a long string.

In this connection the question has been raised
whether shooting would not drive away other birds.
But the records which the author has been able to
obtain, together with his own experience, indicate
that this fear is groundless.

Poisoning the sparrows. During the winter spar-
rows may be poisoned if care is taken to see that no
other birds eat the poisoned food. In the Farmers’

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 157

Bulletin No. 493, on “The English Sparrow as a
Pest,” the following directions are given for the
preparation of poisoned grain: —

Put one eighth ounce of pulverized strychnine sul-
phate into three fourths of a gill of hot water, add one
and one-half teaspoonfuls of starch or wheat flour, mois-
tened with a few drops of cold water, and heat, stirring
constantly till the mixture thickens. Pour the hot poi-
soned starch over one quart of wheat and stir till every
kernel is coated. Small-kerneled wheat sold as poultry
food, if reasonably clean, is preferable to first-quality
grain, being cheaper and more easily eaten by the spar-
rows. A two-quart glass fruit jar is a good vessel to mix
in, as it is easily shaken and allows the condition of the
contents to be seen. If the coated wheat be spread thinly
on a hard, flat surface, it will be dry enough for use in a
short time. It should be dried thoroughly if it is to be
put into jars and kept for future use.

The following method of using poisoned grain is
given by Dr. Hodge in “‘ Nature-Study and Life” :—

It requires but one kernel to kill a sparrow. A quart
of wheat contains about 23,000 kernels, and the spar-
rows seldom take more than two or three. Expose the
grain where poultry and tame pigeons cannot get it,
and by operating only during the winter, there will be
no danger of poisoning seed-eating wild birds at least for
all Northern towns and cities. By taking advantage of
the sparrows’ gregarious habits, and the fact that they
drive off other birds from localities where they are nu-
merous, much might be done even in the South.

Sparrows are such suspicious and cunning birds that,
if the strychninized grain be exposed at first, they will
probably roll each kernel in their bills, taste it, reject it,

158 BIRD FRIENDS

and possibly refuse to touch it again that winter. The
best way is to select a place where the wind is not likely
to scatter it away, — a walk, a driveway, or porch-roof
with a smooth surface, — so that the grain may be swept
up after each trial. Accustom them to feeding there
daily with grain exactly like that which is medicated.
(I often do this for a week, or even a month, until all
the sparrows in the neighborhood are wont to come
regularly.) Study the times when they come for their
meals, and then on a cold, dry morning, after a heavy
snowstorm, having swept up all the good grain the
morning before, wait till they have gathered and then
put enough strychninized grain to feed the whole flock.
You have about ten minutes before any begin to drop,
and those that have not partaken of the grain by this
time will probably be frightened off: but by timing it
properly I have repeatedly caught every sparrow in the
flock. I have found morning the best time, as they all
come then; and it is essential to success to select a dry
day, since in wet weather they taste the strychnine too
easily; I have seen them actually throwit out of thecrop.

With this simple method at command, by concerted
action, a few friends of our native birds can rid any
Northern city of the sparrow pest in a single winter. This
is no more than parents ought to do for the sake of the
native birds, and if not for their sake, at least to clear
the way for the children to do effective work in their be-
half.

That sparrows can be kept in check by systematic
poisoning is shown by the experience of Mr. Frank
Bond while a resident of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Each winter a campaign was waged and the numbers
of the sparrows were so reduced that they did not
interfere with the breeding of the native birds, which

BIRD ENEMIES INTRODUCED BY MAN 159

increased greatly in numbers with the growth of
trees and parks, and the mountain bluebirds and
house finch were common occupants of bird-houses.
At the close of the winter’s work there were never
left more than thirty or forty sparrows, and some-
times even fewer.

When using the poisoned grain, after some of the
birds have been killed, other birds will be frightened
away, so that after each killing unpoisoned grain
should be fed till the birds become accustomed to
feeding there. Then the poisoned grain may be
used again.

Trapping the sparrows. Trapping is one of the
most satisfactory methods of killing the sparrows,
and in some localities it is the only method that can
be used. It is a safer method than shooting or poison-
ing, and may be used in cities where the other meth-
ods would not be allowed. Sparrows caught in this
way may be used for food, if desired, and if native
birds are caught they can be set free. In using
poisons and traps special care should be taken to
see that our native birds are not killed by mistake.

The combined use of traps and poisons is very ef-
fective. The trap may first be used to catch as many
of the flock as will enter it and then poison may be
used to kill the remainder.

At least two types of traps may be used for catch-
ing sparrows, the nest-box trap and the bait trap.
The nest-box trap is so arranged that when the

160 BIRD FRIENDS

bird enters, its weight pushes down a pivoted can
and the bird drops down into the bottom, where it
is imprisoned and may be easily removed and killed.
In Farmers’ Bulletin No. 493 is described a bait
trap. This is a kind of funnel trap made of woven-
wire poultry netting. It consists of four parts:
(1) a half-funnel leading into (2) an antechamber,
which ends in (3) a complete funnel leading into
(4) a final chamber. Canary seed, hemp seed, wheat,
oats, and bread-crumbs may be used for bait. These
are scattered in the antechamber and a little about
the entrance. A live sparrow may be kept in the
trap as a decoy. The trap will prove more effective
if it is moved daily from one feeding-place to an-
other. The sparrows are removed from the trap
by means of a small receiving-box which is placed
against a small door leading out of the final cham-
ber. The sparrows may be easily drowned by
placing in a bag and immersing in a pail of water.
These traps have been widely used with much
success. Average catches of ten or twenty birds a
day are reported, and an occasional catch of one
hundred in a day. The bulletin mentioned above
reports a catch of three hundred in six weeks. One
man reports a catch of six thousand sparrows in four
years through the use of traps. These traps may be
purchased from a number of dealers listed in Chap-
ter XIX, at prices ranging from three to six dollars.

CHAPTER XV
MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS

Tus chapter will be devoted to a discussion of
the part that man has played directly in the destruc-
tion of birds. Some of the ways in which bird life has
been destroyed are due to settlement and the general
advance of civilization, and these are unavoidable.

Advance of civilization. With the rapid increase
in population in the cities and towns, and their cor-
responding growth countryward, roadside shrub-
bery, orchards, decaying trees, and other nesting-
sites are steadily disappearing. In the suburbs of
cities birds that nest in cavities, such as the blue-
bird and wren, experience difficulty in finding nest-
ing-sites. In the country sometimes the farmer
thinks he must clear up the shrubbery and the
tangles by the roadside and along the fences, which,
however, furnish one excellent means of inducing
the birds to remain and nest.

The breeding-places of many water-birds are be-
ing destroyed by the drainage of swamps and
marshes. Not only is this true in the growth of
towns and cities as their limits are broadened, but
large areas are being drained for agricultural pur-
poses to reclaim waste land. Throughout the north

162 BIRD FRIENDS

central part of the United States are many small
marshes which are being tiled and reclaimed by the
farmer.

During migration seasons many birds lose their
lives by dashing against lighthouses that happen
to be in their path. This has been especially ob-
served along the Atlantic Coast. It was reported
that at the base of the statue of Liberty in New
York Harbor there were found one morning four-
teen hundred dead birds which had been killed
during the night.

And finally man has played a very prominent
part directly in bird-destruction by intentionally
and deliberately killing birds; and this forms one
of the saddest stories in connection with bird life,
sad from the standpoint of birds on account of the
harm that has been done them, and sad from the
standpoint of mankind, as indicating the savage
spirit which still pervades “civilized” man. All
other forces combined are mere trifles compared
with the part that man has played in the extermina-
tion of bird life.

Shooting for sport. Every year a vast army of men
and boys, equipped with modern weapons, goes to
the woods, fields, and lakes to slaughter birds. Mr.
H. W. Henshaw, chief of the United States Biologi-
cal Survey, writes that more than ten per cent of all
people in the Northwest are licensed hunters, and
that there are probably not far from five millions

MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS 163

in the United States who are interested in the pur-
suit of game. In the year 1911, hunting licenses
were issued to 2,642,000 gunners in the United
States. Besides these there is another great army
of gunners who hunt contrary to law and without
licenses, which is believed to be equally as large as
the number of licensed hunters. This makes five
million gunners, an army comparable to those en-
gaged in the great European conflict. And this vast
horde, averaging about one person to every three
voters, marches forth each year for the “sport of
killing,” deliberately bent on destroying bird life.
There is little wonder that our game-birds are fast
disappearing.

The improvements that have been made in fire-
arms render shooting much more deadly than form-
erly to bird life. The pump and automatic guns
are really machine guns which allow five or six shots
to be fired in as many seconds. The annual output
of these guns is over one hundred thousand.

It is easy to understand that the annual slaughter
by gunners armed with such weapons is enormous.
A few examples will be given to show what devas-
tation is possible with these modern weapons, which
give the birds little if any chance of escape.

On Marsh Island, Louisiana, one man killed 369
ducks in one day and another market hunter killed
430. Two hunters in California killed 218 geese in
one hour and 450 in one day. One case is recorded

164 BIRD FRIENDS

where a man, armed with several pump guns and
assisted by a man to keep them loaded, hid in a blind,
and killed over one hundred ducks in less than two
hours. By means of these guns a hunter may kill
seven or eight birds out of a flock.

The term “‘game hog” has been aptly applied to
this type of man who kills without limit, merely for
the sport of killing. Most States have a “bag-limit”
on game which defines the largest number of birds
a person may take in one day, but the limit is usu-
ally so high as to furnish insufficient protection.

Railroads have been built through hunting-
grounds hitherto inaccessible. The use of automo-
biles and motor-boats allows gunners to travel over
five times as large an area as formerly and hence
to do five times as much damage.

A form of gun that is now being used by men and
boys to shoot song-birds is called the “Sunday
gun.” It is the combination of a rifle and shotgun,
having two barrels. It is light and easily concealed
under the coat. It derived its name on account of the
use to which it is put. On Sundays boys and men
start out with these weapons concealed under their
coats, and when they reach the country spend the
day shooting song-birds.

Hunting contests. In some parts of the country
it has been the custom to have hunting contests.
The men and boys of acommunity meet, armed with
guns. Captains are selected and sides chosen. The

MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS 165

purpose of the day’s hunt is to see which side can kill
the most birds. The hunters scatter over the coun-
try shooting all living things, and, bringing in their
game, meet again, and count up the points to see
which side has the higher score. Each bird killed
counts for a certain number of points.

Five hundred and sixty-five birds and other ani-
mals were killed in an annual “ side”’ hunt at Enos-
burg Falls, Vermont, October 9, 1896. In a town in
Vermont in which the author lived, a hunting con-
test was conducted on Thanksgiving Day; and after
the hunt was over, the party went to a hotel and
the side which had scored the highest count was
treated to a Thanksgiving dinner by the losing side.

Most of the destruction to which reference has
so far been made refers to the game-birds, but the
small song-birds are also threatened by gunners, in-
cluding boys, foreigners (mostly Italians), negroes,
and poor whites in the South.

Shooting by boys. Rifles and other guns are often
used by boys to shoot small birds. Sometimes there
is a contest to see who can kill the greatest number.
Mr. Forbush records a case in which one boy with
his air rifle killed 470 song-birds, and some of his
companions had killed more than this. One boy
was found near Washington, D.C., with seventy-two
kinglets alone, besides many other birds which had
been killed in one day. During the season he had
killed over one hundred catbirds. Boys sometimes

166 BIRD FRIENDS

start out to kill English sparrows, but are not able
to distinguish the different kinds of sparrows and
so kill valuable native sparrows.

Shooting of song-birds by foreigners. In Italy any
kind of song-bird is considered legitimate game, and
when the Italians first come to this country they
often begin to hunt our small song-birds. Mr. C. A.
Johnson, of Hoosick Falls, New York, reports that
two Italians recently confessed in court that they
had boiled alive and then eaten young robins and
flickers which they had taken from their nests.
Wherever there are large construction works of
railroads, aqueducts, ete., for which large numbers
of Italians are employed, Sunday is apt to be a
day of bird-slaughter. In Pennsylvania, six game-
wardens were killed and eight or ten wounded while
enforcing the law against foreigners.

Slaughter of robins in the South. In the South
the song-birds are not so well protected as in the
North, and many of them are shot for food. Robins
were formerly killed in enormous numbers for this
purpose. The robins roost together in large num-
bers and are easily killed at night by means of
torches, clubs, and poles.

One small hamlet in the South sent 120,000 robins
to market, where they were sold at five cents per
dozen. In one section of Louisiana, where the robins
came in the winter to feed on the holly berries,
about ten thousand birds were slain daily as long

MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS 167

as the robins remained in the locality. An officer
of the Louisiana Audubon Society estimates that
one quarter-million robins are killed annually in
that State for food purposes.

In 1911 there were eight Southern States in which
robins were legally shot and eaten: Louisiana, Mis-
sissippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Maryland, Texas, and Florida.

Shooting for market. Regarding the hunters who
shoot to supply the markets, Dr. Hornaday writes,
in “Our Vanishing Wild Life”: —

Beyond reasonable doubt, this awful traffic in dead
game is responsible for at least three fourths of the
slaughter that has reduced our game birds to a mere
remnant of their former abundance. There is no influ-
ence so deadly to wild life as that of the market gunner
who works six days a week, from sunrise till sunset,
hunting and killing every game bird that he can reach
with a choke-bore gun.

It has been estimated by careful observers that
on the coast of North Carolina and in southern
Louisiana, at least fifty per cent of the ducks that
wintered there were formerly killed each year.

The following records of a professional market
hunter have been published in a sportsman’s maga-
zine. During a three months’ shoot in Iowa and
Minnesota he shot 6250 game-birds. During a win-
ter’s hunting in the South he killed 4450 ducks. Dur-
ing his forty years’ experience as a market hunter

168 BIRD FRIENDS

he killed 4948 plover, 5066 snipe, 5291 quail, 5291
prairie chickens, 8117 useful blackbirds, 61,752
ducks, and many other birds, making a total of
139,628 birds representing twenty-nine species.

In the State of Nebraska nearly a half-million
quail and grouse were formerly sold annually.

In the State of Alabama, before the present game
laws were passed, nine million bob-whites were
killed in one season.

In Georgetown, South Carolina, 240,000 rails and
720,000 bobolinks have been shipped in one season.

Below is the official record of game killed in
Louisiana during the season (12 months) of 1909
and 1910: —

Wild ducks (sea and river)............2000000eee 3,176,000
Quail (bob-white) ...22...00.ay es 12445 8ke eee ck 1,140,750
Snipe, sandpiper, and plover................--- 606,635
DOVES iss ses 9 sic St ck Ahetes cation nacand Graig Slaven ease teeta 810,660
CoOts scaia eee nay ye ea eiheeiaee 62 Yes faauotas 280,740
Geésé'and brant ac cccarciuciaske canciones Gxnsice 202,210
Wald turke ye oia.chsccctnnctiseun ces cae Gatun 2,219

Total number of game-birds killed........ 5,719,214

The milliners’ trade. Formerly our common song-
birds, such as scarlet tanagers, orioles, and blue-
birds, were shot and sold for the milliners’ trade.
In 1886 Mr. Frank M. Chapman observed the
feathered decorations on the hats of women he hap-
pened to meet in the shopping district of New York
City for two afternoons. He found in common use
such birds as robins, thrushes, blackbirds, tanagers,
swallows, warblers, and waxwings. He also found

YOUNG EGRETS LEFT FATHERLESS AND
MOTHERLESS BY PLUME-HUNTERS

RED SQUIRREL, A NEST-ROBBER

MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS 169

bobolinks, larks, orioles, and woodpeckers. He
recognized the plumage of forty species of common
song-birds. Out of seven hundred hats counted in
one afternoon, five hundred and forty-two were
decorated with feathers.

When the shooting of song-birds was more gener-
ally prohibited by law, some of the water-birds, such
as the gulls, terns, and herons, were next slaughtered
for this purpose. Between 1900 and 1908, thousands
of grebes were slaughtered in the lake region of south-
ern Oregon, till the birds were almost exterminated.
The pursuit of these birds has continued until recent
times, and when the shooting and sale of these were
prohibited, birds were sought from other countries,
till now the importation of plumes for milliners’ use
is prohibited by federal law.

Terns were formerly slaughtered along the coast
of Long Island. One village alone supplied seventy
thousand bird-skins in four months to the New York
trade. Mr. Dutcher wrote: “On the coast of Long
Island, the slaughter has been carried on to such a
degree that, where, a few years since, thousands
and thousands of terns were gracefully sailing over
the surf-beaten shore and the wind-rippled bays,
now one is rarely to be seen.”

One dealer, during a three months’ stay in North
Carolina, prepared eleven thousand bird-skins. He
handled about thirty thousand skins every year.
One wmilliner visited Cobb’s Island, on the coast

170 BIRD FRIENDS

of Virginia, to fill a foreign order for forty thousand
bird-skins. Men were hired to kill the terns and
gulls found here and were paid ten cents for each
bird killed.

Tragedy on Laysan Island. Six years ago a bird
tragedy was enacted on Laysan Island, an American
island in the Hawaiian group, in order to get
plumes for the milliners’ trade. Water-birds bred on
this island in enormous numbers. A plume-hunter,
accompanied by twenty-three Japanese laborers,
sailed from Honolulu and made a raid on the island
to kill the birds found there, for their feathers. For
several months they remained here slaughtering the
birds, when the United States Government learned
of what was happening and sent a revenue cutter
to stop them. When the captain arrived, he found
that they had already killed about three hundred
thousand birds and had about three carloads of
wings, feathers, and skins. Nearly every bird on the
island had been killed, and doubtless the remainder
would have been had not the hunters been stopped
in their butchery. Hundreds of birds were impris-
oned in a dry cistern and allowed slowly to starve
to death, because the skins from these birds were
easier to prepare than those from birds killed while
they were fat. There now comes another report
that during the year 1915 another raid was made
on Laysan Island, almost as destructive as the one
mentioned above.

MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS 171

The egret. One of the most expensive plumes used
in the milliners’ trade is the aigrette, which sells at
about forty dollars an ounce. Six birds are required
to furnish an ounce of feathers. These plumes are
borne by the bird only during the nesting-season,
and the birds must be killed then to obtain them.
The reports that they are picked up after being
shed by the bird is absolutely untrue. The birds
nest together in large numbers and so when once
found are easily destroyed. The method by which
the plumes are obtained is most sickening and
horrible. The adult birds are shot and the plumes
are stripped from their backs, often before the
birds are dead. Thus the nestling birds, after the
parents are killed, are left to die slowly of expos-
ure and starvation. And in one case a still sadder
chapter was added to this pitiful story. The Audu-
bon Societies were making efforts to protect the few
remaining colonies in the South and had appointed
Mr. Guy Bradley as warden to guard these colonies,
which were protected by the laws of the State.
While doing his duty guarding this colony he was
killed by plume-hunters.

Egg-collecting. The collecting of birds’ eggs has
been one cause of the decrease of birds. In former
years large numbers of eggs of water-birds, which
nested in large colonies, were collected along the
Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and sold in the markets,
but this is now almost entirely a thing of the past.

172 BIRD FRIENDS

Another scourge of birds in some localities has been
the boy egg-collector. Boys have a natural instinct
for collecting, and unless taught better sometimes
collect birds’ eggs. These collections usually have
no scientific value, the chief purpose of the collector
being to see how many kinds of eggs he can find.
Where there is rivalry among boys to see who can
collect the most eggs, the results will be disastrous
to the bird life of that locality. In most cases, prob-
ably, boys do not realize that the taking of eggs is
forbidden by law. This kind of collecting is appar-
ently now not so common as in former years. Some-
times professional collectors who have a license to
collect may go to extremes in the number they
secure.

Remedies. The remedy for excessive shooting for
sport is to shorten the open seasons, reduce the bag-
limit, and regulate the guns that may be used. In
recent years there has been a great improvement
along these lines in all the state laws.

The remedy for shooting for market and for
feathers is to prohibit the selling of game and the use
of feathers of wild birds for millinery purposes. In
most of our States the sale of game is prohibited
now, and in some the use of feathers, and the recent
federal tariff regulation forbids the importation of
feathers for millinery purposes. Thus, with refer-
ence to all kinds of shooting the outlook for the
protection of birds is very hopeful.

MAN AS AN ENEMY OF BIRDS 173

The small boy who shoots birds and collects eggs
must be reached through the schools, and with the
introduction of nature-study into so many schools
the value and protection of bird life are now being
widely taught.

The problem presented by the shooting of song-
birds by foreigners has been solved by several States
by prohibiting aliens from hunting or from owning
or possessing guns.

CHAPTER XVI
WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES

THE preceding chapters have explained the work
done by the army of destruction in slaughtering
birds. The next few chapters will be devoted to the
much pleasanter task of explaining the work done
by the army of protection in trying to save our birds.
This army is constantly growing larger and has been
winning battle after battle of such decisive char-
acter that the outlook is now most promising that
this army will soon be entirely victorious.

The first Audubon Society. The most active and
effective agents in the cause of bird-protection are
the Audubon Societies. The first society of this
name was organized in 1886 by Dr. George B. Grin-
nell, editor of “‘Forest and Stream.” As the result
of an editorial written by Dr. Grinnell the idea of
forming such a society met with a ready response
and was endorsed by such men as Henry Ward
Beecher, John G. Whittier, Henry C. Potter, and
Oliver Wendell Holmes. By the end of the year,
the Audubon Society had sixteen thousand mem-
bers with over three hundred local secretaries scat-
tered throughout the United States and in foreign
countries. By August of the following year the
membership had reached thirty-eight thousand.

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 175

In January, 1887, “Forest and Stream” started
the publication of the “Audubon Magazine,” to
serve as the special organ of the Audubon Society.
This contained articles of general interest on bird
life. After being published for two years, the maga-
zine was discontinued, and with it passed the first -
Audubon movement.

For a number of years the enemies of bird life
again held sway and there was little organized ef-
fort in the interest of bird-protection. By 1895 the
cause of bird-protection was at its lowest ebb.

The American Ornithologists’ Union. The early
history of the Audubon movement is closely bound
up with the American Ornithologists’ Union, an or-
ganization composed of the leading bird-students
of the country. In 1884 a committee on bird-pro-
tection was appointed by the Union. This did very
effective work in gathering statistics and publishing
bulletins to arouse the public to the need of bird-
protection. This committee worked in conjunction
with the National Committee of Audubon Societies,
and during one year the same man was chairman of
both committees.

The second Audubon movement. In 1896 was
begun the second Audubon movement, which has
continued with constantly increasing momentum
up to the present time. In that year state Audubon
societies were organized in Massachusetts and Penn-
sylvania, and these were rapidly followed within the

176 BIRD FRIENDS

next few years with organizations in other States,
until now there are societies in thirty-seven States
and in the District of Columbia.

The National Association of Audubon Societies.
After these state societies were organized, it was
felt that there should be a central national organi-
zation to bind the others together and direct their
work. Accordingly, in 1902, a federation, known as
the National Committee of Audubon Societies, was
formed, composed of one member from each state
society. The work of the committee grew rapidly
and in 1905 led to the organization of the National
Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection
of Wild Birds and Animals. Besides being a medium
of exchange between the several state societies, this
association has taken on other functions, such as the
formation of new societies, encouragement of proper
legislation, promotion of educational work, and other
lines of work, and it is to-day the mainstay and back-
bone of the whole Audubon movement. The objects
of the organization are stated as follows in acircular
issued by the Association: —

The objects of the Association are to arouse in a
greater degree the public conscience on the important
subject of preserving wild birds and game animals of the

country and to secure protection at all times for the
valuable non-game bird life.

The credit for the initial success of this movement
is due largely to the enthusiasm and untiring effort

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 177

of its president, Mr. William Dutcher, who since
1910 has been unable on account of sickness to take
any active part in the work of the Association. Since
that time the chief executive officer has been the
secretary, Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson. Under his ener-
getic management the Association has made remark-
able growth, and many new lines of activity have
been developed.

The following are the classes of membership in the
Association: —

$5 annually pays a sustaining membership.

$100 paid at one time constitutes a life member-
ship.

$1000 constitutes a person a patron.

$5000 constitutes a person a founder.

$25,000 constitutes a person a benefactor.

In 1915, there were 2558 sustaining members,
244 life members, 3 patrons, 1 founder, and 1 bene-
factor (deceased). The fees of the life members are
added to the endowment fund. The total disburse-
ments for the year 1915 were $93,000. The funds
to meet these expenses are derived chiefly from three
sources, the returns from the endowment fund,
which now amounts to about $400,000, the dues
of the sustaining members, and special contribu-
tions.

In the work for bird-protection many agencies
have been active, but the National Association of
Audubon Societies has been the prime mover which

178 BIRD FRIENDS

has brought these agencies together to work in
unison.

The work of the Association has been extended
in many lines, chief of which are the following:
(1) legislation, (2) warden work, (3) egret-protec-
tion, (4) publications, (5) junior Audubon classes,
(6) field agents, (7) department of applied orni-
thology, (8) arranging for bird courses in summer
schools, (9) establishing bird sanctuaries.

Legislation. The Association first gave its atten-
tion to securing proper laws protecting birds. The
American Ornithologists’ Union had prepared a
model law for the protection of song-birds, and this
was brought to the attention of legislatures in the
various States, and efforts were made to secure its
passage. These efforts have been almost uniformly
successful and now this law has been adopted by
forty States. Efforts were also made to secure bet-
ter laws for the protection of game-birds, such as
prohibiting spring shooting, shortening the open
season, limiting the number of birds that may be
shot, removing small birds from the game list, regu-
lating the kind of weapons that may be used, and
prohibiting the sale of game. Great progress has
been made along all these lines.

When state legislatures are in session, all bills
relating to bird life are carefully studied, and any
bill that tends to remove protection from valuable
birds is opposed, and bills that give birds more

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 179

protection are sanctioned. The Association has also
been active in furthering national legislation.
Warden work. Many of the water-birds nest to-
gether in large colonies where thousands of birds
nest within a small area. The Association employs
about twenty-five wardens to guard these colonies
during the breeding-season. The colonies which are
thus protected are situated on the islands off the
coast of Maine, along the coasts of New York, New
Jersey, Virginia, Florida, and in the lakes of Michi-
gan. It was estimated that during the season of
1913 about two million birds were protected in
these colonies, and that during 1915 at least half
a million young birds were brought to maturity.
Egret protection. For many years the Association
has been endeavoring to save the egrets, whose
extermination was threatened by the demands of the
milliners. One of its wardens was shot while pro-
tecting colonies of these birds, and their numbers
were reduced to such an extent that it seemed doubt-
ful whether these beautiful birds could be saved,
but persistent efforts have been made and the Asso-
ciation has raised a special egret fund to be used
in protecting these birds, and the outlook is now
very encouraging for their preservation. During
1915 the Association had seventeen special wardens
protecting these egret colonies, which are located
in Florida, South Carolina, and Missouri. During
the season of 1915 these wardens had under their

180 BIRD FRIENDS

care twenty distinct rookeries which contained about
three thousand snowy herons and seven thousand
egrets. In these rookeries many other water-birds
are also protected, which were estimated im the sea-
son of 1914 to number about half a million.

Publications. One of the most important lines of
work carried on by the Association is the issuing
of its various publications for the education of the
public on bird matters. First may be mentioned the
magazine ‘‘Bird-Lore,” which is the official organ
of the Association. This was established in 1899
and stands to-day as the leading popular bird maga-
zine in the country. The fact that Mr. Frank M.
Chapman is editor is guaranty of the high standard
of the magazine. This is published six times yearly,
and is sent free to members of the Association. The
price to others is one dollar.

Each issue contains two colored plates of birds,
one of which is accompanied by a four-page insert
descriptive of the bird’s habits. The other picture
is accompanied by a migration table based on the
data furnished by the United States Bureau of Bio-
logical Survey. The magazine contains interesting
articles by well-known bird-students, which are us-
ually accompanied by photographs taken from life.
There is a special school department for teachers
and children, in which are given suggestions to teach-
ers for teaching about birds, and to children on how
to study birds; and opportunities are given for the

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 181

accounts of their observations to be published in
“Bird-Lore.” Brief notes are given of the work being
done by the Audubon Societies, and in the Novem-
ber—December issue is given the annual report of
the National Association. Reviews of books and
magazine articles relating to birds are given. Vol-
ume 17, for 1915, contained 560 pages. The maga-
zine is published at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

After the educational leaflets are published in
‘*Bird-Lore,” they are printed separately and sold
for two cents each, including the four-page leaflet,
the colored plate, and an outline drawing. Other
special leaflets are issued from time to time. During
the year 1914 nearly four million colored plates and
educational leaflets were issued. About ninety leaf-
lets have now been published, some of which have
been bound together in book form.

The Association publishes annually over six mil-
lion pages of literature devoted to bird-protection,
and at the office in New York City twenty clerks
are employed to look after its business. It has for
sale nearly two hundred colored lantern-slides of
birds. A very satisfactory field-glass for bird-study
is offered for sale for six dollars. The Association
acts as a purchasing agent for its members in se-
curing anything wanted in the line of bird-study
and Audubon work. A circular giving full details
may be had on application to the Association at
1974 Broadway, New York City.

182 BIRD FRIENDS

Junior Audubon classes. Perhaps the most im-
portant work the Association has been doing dur-
ing the last few years is its effort to interest children
in birds through the medium of the schools. For
several years the following plan has been used: In
the early spring circulars are sent to teachers, ex-
plaining the method of organizing junior Audubon
classes. Each child who wishes to join pays ten
cents as the annual dues. He receives in return ten
educational leaflets with the colored plate and out-
line of some common bird, and a bird button with
a small picture of a robin on it and the inscription
“‘Audubon Society.” If the club numbers ten mem-
bers, ‘‘Bird-Lore”’ is sent free to the teacher for one
year. The leaflets alone would ordinarily cost
twenty cents, but the Association is able to sell
them at the rate of one cent, because it has a special
fund, contributed by a friend for carrying on this
work. After the club is formed, it can meet as often
as it wishes and carry out such programs as the
teacher and children may devise. Later in the sea-
son a letter is sent to each leader of a junior class
offering prizes for the best and most interesting
photographs of junior Audubon classes, the photo-
graph to be accompanied with a brief account of
the work of the class.

This movement first started in the South in 1910
with ten thousand pupils enrolled, and since then
the movement has grown steadily and spread all

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 183

over the United States. In 1915 there were 7723
classes, including 152,179 members; and in 1916,
9901 classes, including 205,138 members.

“Bird-Lore” for July-August, 1915, gives the
photographs of the clubs to which the prizes were
awarded, and the accompanying explanation sent
by the teacher. The first prize was given to the
West North Street School, Canton, Ohio. Following
is the letter sent from this school: —

April [writes the teacher who conducts this vigorous
class] was the “‘ Month of Birds” at West North Street
School. During the spring vacation wren and bluebird
houses to the number of one hundred and thirty were
placed in yards adjoining the homes of the members.
These houses had been built by the older boys, each
one making two, so that the girls also might enjoy the
society of bird-families near their homes. For Bird-
Month each schoolroom displayed pictures of birds.
many were those sent with the leaflets, and painted by
the pupils themselves. The halls were also decorated,
each room taking a section and trying to outdo the
others in the originality of their decorations.

Birds are studied in all departments of the school.
The pupils in the upper grades used the pictures of the
Educational Leaflets of this and former years in the lan-
tern, and each one gave us a talk about his bird as it
appeared on the screen. Monday morning is the most
interesting time of all, as so many birds have been ob-
served during the two preceding holidays, and every one
is anxious to hear the new reports and to add new birds
to their list. This led to our boys being invited to speak
to the boys and girls in other buildings, and tell them
why and how birds should be protected. This was re-

184 BIRD FRIENDS

garded by them as a great compliment. They went out
in twos, on the afternoon of Arbor Day, carrying with
them a wren house and a bluebird house. It was a pleas-
ing sight. We heard very flattering reports of their work,
and we are certain they won many new friends for the
birds, and had an enjoyable and instructive experience.

Field agents. During the year 1915 the Associa-
tion employed six field agerits who gave their time
to lecturing, attending the sessions of legislatures to
look after bird legislation, securing new members
for the National Association, and in general pro-
moting the interests of the Association and the cause
for which it stands. Tlustrated lectures are given
to audiences of school-children, women’s clubs,
granges, and other organizations.

Department of Applied Ornithology. There has
been recently organized a new department of the
National Association, called the Department of
Applied Ornithology, in charge of Mr. Herbert K.
Job. The purpose of this department is to furnish
information by means of lectures and bulletins on
methods of attracting birds around homes and farms,
and on methods of raising wild game-birds by arti-
ficial means. Two bulletins have so far been issued,
one on the propagation of water-fowl and another
on the propagation of upland game-birds.

Summer courses in bird-study. During the
summer of 1915 courses in bird-study were given
under the auspices of the National Association at

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 185

eight summer schools, six of which were in state
universities.

Bird sanctuaries. The Association has been in-
fluential in establishing bird sanctuaries, either buy-
ing or leasing land at its own expense, or interest-
ing others to do so. It originated the system of
federal bird reservations and codperates financially
with the Government in protecting them. It con-
tributes financially for feeding birds in winter, for
protecting big game, and for prosecuting violators
of the law.

Needs of the Association. The needs of the
Association are set forth in a recent circular as
follows: —

Needs. The National Association depends for its sup-
port upon the income from a small endowment, and the
contributions of its members and friends.

The present income is totally inadequate to meet the
urgent and tremendously growing demands for aid from
all parts of the country.

Persons interested in the study or preservation of wild
birds or animals from any standpoint are invited to unite
with us in this great economic movement.

A contribution of five dollars or more pays the fee of a
sustaining member for one year.

A gift of one hundred dollars constitutes the donor a
life member.

All members receive the magazine ‘‘ Bird-Lore”’ and
the various publications of the Association as they ap-
pear.

186 BIRD FRIENDS

Application Blank

Being in sympathy with the objects of THE NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES FOR THE PROTEC-
TION oF Witp Birps aND ANIMALS (incorporated), I here-
by agree to become a Sustarnine Mexper, and enclose
‘the sum of $5.00, the first annual fee.

Please mail to office of the Association,
1974 Broadway, New York City.
$100 paid at one time constitutes a life membership.

State societies. There are now state Audubon
societies in thirty-seven States and in the District of
Columbia. As an illustration of the work of these
societies, a brief summary of the activities of the
Massachusetts Audubon Society for the year 1914
is given. It had 225 life members and 2200 sustain-
ing members. The Society occupies an office in
Boston where exhibitions on various features of
bird life are kept open to the public. During the win-
ter it took steps to encourage the feeding of birds
throughout the State. Junior Audubon classes were
formed in codperation with the National Association
of Audubon Societies. A bird calendar is published
each year and the Audubon bird charts are sold.
It holds an annual meeting in the spring.

Birdcraft sanctuary. The Connecticut Audubon
Society has recently created a bird sanctuary. This

BIRD ISLAND, FLORIDA

Reservation owned by the National Association of Audubon Societies

CALIFORNIA MURRES ON THREE ARCH ROCKS OFF THE
OREGON COAST, ONE OF THE GOVERNMENT
BIRD RESERVATIONS

WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 187

consists of ten acres of land situated just outside the
city of Fairfield. It has been surrounded by a cat-
proof fence. Shrubs have been planted and nesting-
boxes and winter feeding-devices installed. A small
museum has been built, in which birds are displayed
with appropriate surroundings. The museum and
sanctuary are open to the public under certain re-
strictions. A warden is employed constantly to take
charge of the sanctuary and museum.

CHAPTER XVII

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS — STATE
AND NATIONAL

Work of State Governments

BRIEF mention has been made in a previous chap-
ter of the work done by the Audubon Societies in
procuring legislation. The nature of this legislation
may now be examined a little more carefully.

History of legislation. The first laws for the
protection of song-birds were passed during the last
of the eighteenth century, but it was not till the
middle of the nineteenth century that laws pro-
tecting these birds began to be general. These were
first adopted in the States in the northeastern
United States, later by those in the western United
States, and still more recently by the States in the
South, till now every State in the Union accords
some degree of protection to the song-birds.

In the first laws the distinction between the in-
sectivorous birds, which were to be protected at all
times, and the game-birds, for which open seasons
were to be allowed, was not clearly defined. In
1886 the Bird Protection Committee of the Ameri-
can Ornithologists’ Union drafted a law which has
since been known as the Model A.O.U. Law, and

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 189

has formed the basis for nearly all bird legislation
since that time. This law, with some modifications,
has been adopted in forty States. The provisions
of the law may be briefly summarized as follows: —

1. A definition of what constitutes game-birds.

2. A list of injurious birds.

3. Protection of all other birds, their nests and eggs.

4. Permission to collect birds for scientific pur-
poses.

5. Statement of the fine for violation of the law.

Changes still needed in some States are a reduc-
tion of the number of birds exempted from protec-
tion so as to exclude only the injurious birds, espe-
cially among the hawks and owls, and the removal
of all song-birds from the game list. More than half
of the States have laws prohibiting Sunday shoot-
ing, thus making this a closed season for all birds.

Bird Day. Bird Day is now officially recognized
in the following nine States: California, Connecti-
cut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio,
Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Game laws. For game-birds a separate set of laws
is enacted which prescribes regulations regarding:
(1) the open season when game may be shot; (2) the
shipment of game outside of the State; (3) the sale
of game; (4) the bag-limit; (5) the procuring of li-
censes for hunting and shipping game.

Formerly spring and summer shooting were per-
mitted, but now nearly all States forbid shooting

190 BIRD FRIENDS

at these seasons, and limit it to the fall and winter,
or fall alone. The length of the open season ranges
from two to four months. Sometimes when the
bird is very rare no open season is allowed.

Most of the States prohibit export of all game
protected by local laws, except that sportsmen may
take out a limited amount under special restrictions.
Twenty-two States prohibit the sale of all pro-
tected game at all seasons. Twenty-five others pro-
hibit the sale of certain kinds of game at all seasons.
About two thirds of the States permit the sale of
game raised in captivity.

All States, with three exceptions, have laws limit-
ing the amount of game that may be killed or had
in possession in a day. The number allowed, ranging
from fifteen to fifty, is too large to afford adequate
protection to birds. Following is the Minnesota
law: “Licensed resident: 15 ducks, 10 other birds
combined, a day; 45 ducks, 30 other kinds com-
bined, in possession.”

Tn all the States licenses must be secured by non-
residents before they can hunt any or certain kinds
of game. This fee varies from ten to twenty-five
dollars. In forty-two States residents are also
required to secure a license, but the fees are much
smaller, usually about a dollar. In about half of the
States a special kind of hunting-license, called the
“alien license” has been adopted to restrict hunting
by persons who are not citizens of the country. In

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 191

some States aliens are not allowed to hunt or to own
guns.

The protection of game-birds has a practical side
as furnishing a supply of food. Dr. W. T. Hornaday
estimates that if our game-birds and game quadru-
peds had been properly conserved, they would now be
yielding each year ten million dollars’ worth of food.

Summary. Summarizing the legislation of recent
years, we may note that the tendency is constantly
and consistently toward giving birds more complete
protection. Following are some tendencies as shown
in recent state legislation: —

The protection at all seasons of all birds except
game-birds and injurious birds.

Removing all song-birds from thelist of game-birds.

Granting a prolonged closed season for game-birds
which are very scarce.

Shortening the open season for game-birds.

Prohibiting spring, summer, and winter shooting.

Reducing the bag limit.

Prohibiting the export of game-birds.

Prohibiting the sale of game-birds.

Limiting the shooting of game-birds to those who
have obtained licenses.

Prohibiting the sale of feathers of wild birds.

Prohibiting the use of feathers of wild birds for
millinery purposes.

Restrictions on the kinds of weapons that may be
used.

192 BIRD FRIENDS

Work of the National Government

The United States Bureau of Biological Survey.
One of the most important steps ever taken in this
country in the interest of bird-protection was the
establishment, in 1885, of the United States Bureau
of Biological Survey, as a result of the activities of
the American Ornithologists’ Union. This Bureau
began the study of the economic relations of birds.
The findings of this study have been the foundation
for nearly all the legislation in this country for the
protection of song-birds and birds of prey. The facts
here found regarding the food of birds have been
the chief arguments used in influencing legisla-
tures to pass laws protecting birds. The Audubon
Societies have worked in close touch with the Bureau
of Biological Survey. All important plans and
movements of the National Association are adopted
after consultation with the Bureau.

The work of the Bureau was first started by Dr.
C. Hart Merriam who, with one assistant, began to
investigate the economic relations of birds to agri-
culture. The number of men employed has been
increased and the scope of the field enlarged, till it
now includes the study of the economic relations of
mammals, the geographic distribution of plants and
animals, and the supervision of matters pertaining to
game-protection and the importation of foreign birds
and animals; and now the preparation of the regu-

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 193

lations for the new Migratory Bird Law has been
entrusted to the Bureau.

An explanation of the methods used in investi-
gating the food of birds has already been given in
Chapter VII.

The Lacey Act. The first federal law passed deal-
ing with the protection of birds was the Lacey Act,
approved in 1900. This was important as establish-
ing the principle that the protection of birds came
within the jurisdiction of the National Government.
It contains three main divisions: (1) it places the
preservation of birds under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Agriculture; (2) it authorizes the Se-
cretary of Agriculture to regulate the importation
of foreign birds and animals, and prohibits the intro-
duction of the mongoose, “flying foxes,” English
sparrow, starling, or other species which may be
declared injurious; and (3) it prohibits interstate
traffic in birds killed in violation of state laws.

This last provision was an important step in help-
ing to protect the game-birds, as hitherto there had
been much shipping and sale of game out of the
State where it was killed.

The Migratory Bird Law. Since the passing of
the Lacey Act various bills have been introduced
into Congress whose purpose was to protect mi-
gratory birds. One was introduced into the House
of Representatives in 1904 by Hon. George Shiras,
3d. Another was introduced in 1908 by Hon. John

194 BIRD FRIENDS

W. Weeks, and again one in 1909 by the same author,
but none of these received favorable consideration.
Again, in 1911, Hon. John W. Weeks introduced a
bill in the House, and later Senator McLean, of
Connecticut, introduced an identical bill in the
Senate. By this time enough sentiment had been
aroused in the country regarding the protection of
birds, so that the bill was given serious consideration.
The friends of birds codperated and waged a long
and successful campaign in favor of this bill. Gover-
nors and legislatures were asked to send resolutions
to Congress endorsing it. Sportsmen’s organizations,
zoological societies, and scientific bodies passed
resolutions and sent them to their Representatives
in Congress. The Audubon Societies sent thousands
of letters and telegrams to Senators and Represen-
tatives. Some of the organizations whose officers
and members aided in the campaign are: The Ameri-
can Game Protective and Propagation Association,
the Camp-fire Club of America, the New York
Zodlogical Society, the Boone and Crockett Club,
the National Federation of Women’s Clubs, the
Long Island Sportsmen’s Association, the State
Audubon societies, and numerous sportsmen’s
clubs scattered throughout the country. The game
commissioners of nearly every State and thousands
of individual workers strove for the passage of the
Weeks-McLean bill.

The efforts of these friends of the birds were

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 195

finally successful and the bill was passed without one
dissenting vote in the Senate, and with only fifteen
votes cast against it in the House. One of the last of-
ficial acts of President Taft was the signing of this
bill on March 4, 1913.

This was the most important step ever taken by
any country in the interest of bird-protection. Fol-
lowing is the text of the law: —

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That all wild geese, wild swan, brant, wild
ducks, snipe, plover, woodcocks, rail, wild pigeons, and
all other migratory game and insectivorous birds, which
in their northern and southern migrations pass through,
or do not remain permanently the entire year within the
borders of any State or Territory, shall hereafter be
deemed to be within the custody and protection of the
Government of the United States, and shall not be de-
stroyed or taken contrary to regulations hereinafter pro-
vided therefor.

Srection 2. That the Department of Agriculture is
hereby authorized to adopt suitable regulations to give
effect to the previous section by prescribing and fixing
closed seasons, having due regard to the zones of tempera-
ture, breeding habits, and times and lines of migratory
flight, thereby enabling the department to select and des-
ignate suitable districts for different portions of the coun-
try within which said closed seasons it shall not be lawful
to shoot, or by any device kill or seize and capture migra-
tory birds within the protection of this law, and by de-
claring penalties by fine of not more than one hundred
dollars or imprisonment for ninety days, or both, for viola-
tion of such regulations.

Section 3. That the Department of Agriculture, after

196 BIRD FRIENDS

the preparation of said regulations, shall cause the same
to be made public, and shall allow a period of three
months in which said regulations may be examined and
considered before final adoption, permitting, when deemed
proper, public hearings thereon, and after final adoption to
cause same to be engrossed and submitted to the Presi-
dent of the United States for approval: Provided however,
That nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect or
interfere with the local laws of the States and Territories
for the protection of non-migratory game or other birds
resident and breeding within their borders, nor to prevent
the States and Territories from enacting laws and regula-
tions to promote and render efficient the regulations of the
Department of Agriculture provided under this statute.

Section 4. That there is hereby appropriated, out of
any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act,
the sum of ten thousand dollars.

This bill applies only to the migratory birds and not
to the permanent residents, and regulates the closed
and open seasons for game-birds, but the States are
left to regulate matters such as the kinds of guns
that may be used, sale of game within the State,
and bag-limits. This bill does not take the place of
the state laws protecting birds, but is added to them,
so that an offender may be prosecuted twice, once
under the state laws and again under the federal law.

Advantages of federal law. The advantages of
this federal law over the state laws are many. First,
it insures a uniform regulation. Under the state
laws a bird may be protected in one State and killed
in another, as was true of the robin.

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 197

Second, it controls the open season so as to give
better protection to game-birds. Under the state
regulations a bird might be shot from the time it
left its home in the North all the way on its migra-
tion South. The state control of game has proved a
failure. No State has given its game adequate pro-
tection. The number of game-birds has been stead-
ily decreasing under state control, some being threat-
ened with extermination. It seems almost certain
that under federal control birds will be more effec-
tively protected, and that their numbers will soon
begin to increase; and already this increase has been
noted in some localities.

Third, it means permanency of bird-protection.
Under the state systems at the meeting of nearly
every legislature efforts are made to repeal some
of the laws protecting birds and to pass new laws
which permit the killing of more birds.

Fourth, federal laws are generally better enforced
and more feared than state laws, and so are more
effective.

The preparation of the regulations for the protec-
tion of migratory birds was entrusted to a committee
of experts from the Bureau of Biological Survey.
These Regulations form one of the most important
scientific documents ever issued on the subject of
bird-protection. Portions of these regulations are
quoted below, as amended August 16, 1916: —

198 BIRD FRIENDS

Regulation 1: Definitions

For the purposes of these regulations the following
shall be considered migratory game birds: —

(a) Anatidee, or waterfowl, including brant, wild ducks,
geese, and swans.

(b) Gruidee, or cranes, including little brown, sandhill,
and whooping cranes.

(ec) Rallidze, or rails, including coots, gallinules, and
sora and other rails.

(d) Limicole, or shore birds, including avocets, curlew,
dowitchers, godwits, knots, oyster-catchers, phalaropes,
plover, sandpipers, snipe, stilts, surf-birds, turnstones,
willet, woodcock, and yellow-legs.

(e) Columbide or pigeons, including doves and wild
pigeons.

For the purposes of these regulations the following shall
be considered migratory insectivorous birds: —

(f) Bobolinks, catbirds, chickadees, cuckoos, flickers,
flycatchers, grosbeaks, hummingbirds, kinglets, martins,
meadowlarks, nighthawks or bullbats, nuthatches, ori-
oles, robins, shrikes, swallows, swifts, tanagers, titmice,
thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, whip-poor-wills,
woodpeckers, and wrens, and all other perching birds
which feed entirely or chiefly on insects.

Regulation 2: Closed season at night
A daily closed season on all migratory game and in-
sectivorous birds shall extend from sunset to sunrise.

Regulation 3: Closed season on insectivorous birds

A closed season on migratory insectivorous birds shall
continue throughout the year, except that the closed
season on reedbirds or ricebirds in New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia,

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 199

Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, shall com-
mence November I and end August 31, next following,
both dates inclusive: Provided, That nothing in this or
any other of these regulations shall be construed to pre-
vent the issue of permits for collecting birds for scientific
purposes in accordance with the laws and regulations in
force in the respective States and Territories and the Dis-
strict of Columbia.

Regulation 4: Closed seasons on certain game birds

A closed season shall continue until September 1, 1918,
on the following migratory game birds: Band-tailed
pigeons, little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes,
wood ducks, swans, curlew, willet, and all shore birds ex-
cept the black-breasted and golden plover, Wilson snipe
or jacksnipe, woodcock, and the greater and lesser yel-
low-legs.

A closed season shall also continue until September 1,
1918, on rails in California and Vermont; and on wood-
cock in Illinois and Missouri. :

At the same time with the original regulations
there was issued Circular No. 93, giving explana-
tions of these regulations, from which the following
is quoted: —

Laws for the protection of migratory birds hitherto
enacted have usually provided Jong open seasons and
have been framed mainly in the interests of the hunter
rather than of the game. In preparing the regulations under
the Federal law for the protection of migratory birds an
effort has been made to reduce the open seasons to rea-
sonable limits, to provide hunting at the time of the year
when game birds are most abundant and in the best condi-
tion, and in all cases to give the benefit of the doubt to

200 BIRD FRIENDS

the bird. Recognizing the fact that many species of shore
birds and some of the water fowl have diminished to a
point where they are approaching extinction, protection
has been extended to several species throughout the year
and to others at least three fourths of the year. The prep-
aration of the regulations was entrusted to a committee
of members of the Biological Survey appointed by the
Acting Secretary of Agriculture on March 21, 1913. The
members of this committee were: T. S. Palmer, Assistant
Chief, chairman; A. K. Fisher, in charge of Economic
Investigations; and W. W. Cooke, Migration Expert.
The committee at once took up the work of examining
the data on file in the Biological Survey relating to
the distribution, migration, and protection of migratory
birds, had a series of maps prepared, collected much
special information, and after numerous conferences rec-
ommended the regulations contained in Circular 92,
These regulations differ from the ordinary restrictions
under state laws, since they take into consideration the
entire range of the species and the condition of the birds
at all times of the year and not merely the local conditions
when a certain species is most abundant in some particu-
lar State or region.

Basis of the Regulations

In carrying out the statutory requirements of “due
regard to the zones of temperature, breeding habits, times
and lines of migratory flight,”’ the following are some of
the more important principles on which the regulations
have been based: —

To limit the list of migratory game birds to species
properly so called and to eliminate species too small to be
considered legitimate game or too rare to be longer hunted
for sport or profit. This list has been made to conform
as closely as possible with the statutory definitions of
game.

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 201

To prevent spring shooting.

To protect migratory birds between sunset and sunrise.

To provide protected flight lines along at least two of
the great navigable rivers.

To make the seasons approximately equal in length in
different parts of the country.

To limit the hunting seasons to a maximum of three or
three and one-half months.

To regulate these seasons according to latitude and
times of migration and to adjust them so that there may
be a reasonable opportunity of securing thirty days’ shoot-
ing of any species at a given place.

To provide separate seasons for water fowl, rail, shore
birds, and woodcock. The woodcock seasons are made to
conform as nearly as possible with the seasons for upland
game under state laws, so that there may be no opportu-
nity in close seasons to hunt quail or grouse under the
guise of shooting woodcock.

To curtail hunting at the end instead of the beginning
of the open season, in the interest of both birds and the
sportsmen.

To utilize all the protection now accorded by the closed
seasons under state laws and extend these seasons when
necessary.

Effect of the Regulations

The probable effect of these regulations may be briefly
stated as follows: —

(1) Uniformity in protection of migratory game and
insectivorous birds in the several States.

(2) Protection of birds in spring while en route to
their nesting grounds and while mating.

(3) Uniformity in protection of migratory birds at
night.

(4) Establishment of protected migration routes along
two great rivers in the central United States.

202 BIRD FRIENDS

(5) Complete protection for five years for the smaller
shore birds and other species which have become greatly
reduced in numbers.

(6) Reduction of the open season on migratory game
birds, but in most cases not more than twenty-five to fifty
per cent.

(7) No change in existing conditions before October 1,
1913.

Three months were allowed for criticism, during
which public hearings were given, and then finally,
with a few minor changes, the regulations were
approved by President Wilson and became effective
October 1, 1913.

Congress in the session of 1914 appropriated
$50,000 for the enforcement of this law. Federal
wardens have been appointed to codperate with
the state wardens in the enforcement of this law and
of the law regulating interstate shipment of game.

The provisions of this federal law may be briefly
summarized by saying that four kinds of protection
are granted to migratory birds: —

1. Permanent protection, granted to all migra-
tory insectivorous birds.

2. Limited protection, for five years to certain
game-birds which are very scarce, including sixty-
two species.

3. Seasonal protection, of about nine months
to migratory game-birds.

4. Nightly protection, given to all birds between
sunset and sunrise.

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 203

The constitutionality of this law has been chal-
lenged and the matter has been brought to the
Supreme Court of the United States, but the de-
cision has not yet been given. Careful students of
the law believe that it will stand the test of con-
stitutionality.

Tariff regulations. At the first session of Congress
in 1913 bird-lovers fought and won another great
battle for the birds. Congress in its revision of the
tariff adopted the following schedule prohibiting
the importation of feathers: —

Provided, that importation of aigrettes, egret plumes,
or so called osprey plumes, and the feathers, quills, heads,
wings, tails, skins, and parts of skins of wild birds, either
raw or manufactured, and not for scientific or educational
purposes is hereby prohibited, but this provision shall not
apply to the feathers of domestic fowls of any kind.

When the matter was under consideration by the
House Committee on Ways and Means, friends of
bird-protection appeared before it asking that the
importation of feathers be prohibited. This was
adopted by the House and the bill was sent to the
Senate. The Senate Finance Committee made such
radical changes as to make the provision worthless
for the purpose originally intended. The friends of
bird-protection made strenuous efforts to have the
tariff provision inserted as it came from the House,
and the Senators were deluged with letters and
telegrams demanding that this provision be retained

204 BIRD FRIENDS

unchanged. When the matter finally came to the
Democratic caucus, it rejected the report of the Sen-
ate Committee and adopted the House provision
prohibiting the importation of the plumage of wild
birds except for scientific and educational purposes.
This was later adopted by the Senate.

National Bird Reservations. On March 14, 1903,
President Roosevelt issued the following order: —

It is hereby ordered that Pelican Island in Indian River,
Florida, is reserved and set apart for the use of the De-

partment of Agriculture as a preserve and breeding-
ground for native birds.

Thus was the first National Bird Refuge set aside
and a government policy was then initiated which
has since been expanded into a system of many bird
refuges. The need of such reservations was first
brought to the attention of President Roosevelt by
the National Association of Audubon Societies,
some of whose members had noticed the needless
destruction of birds on these islands.

As the question was raised as to whether the
President had power to set aside such reservations,
a little later a bill was enacted by Congress giving
the President authority to establish reservations of
this character on government lands not fitted for
agriculture. Most of these are situated on small,
rocky islands or on tracts of marsh land of no value
to man. These reservations vary in size from two
acres (Hog Island, Wisconsin, the home of a colony

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 205

of gulls) to the very large Hawaiian Island reserva-
tion, which extends over five degrees of longitude
and includes the breeding-ground of over a million
sea-birds.

The National Association of Audubon Societies
has agents in the field making searches for areas
suitable for such reservations, and when found they
are brought to the attention of the President of the
United States. Birds are given protection at all times
on these reservations, wardens are stationed on the
most important ones, and the National Association
of Audubon Societies codperates with the Depart-
ment of Agriculture in protecting the birds. The
policy thus initiated by President Roosevelt has
been followed by Presidents Taft and Wilson till
the Government has sixty-nine bird reservations
up to January 20, 1915.

The purpose of these reservations is threefold:
first, to protect important breeding-colonies of
water-birds; second, to furnish refuges for migra-
tory species on their northern and southern flights;
and third, to furnish refuges for migratory species
during the winter.

These bird reservations may be grouped into six
districts : —

1. The Gulf District, including ten in Florida,
four in Louisiana, and one in Porto Rico. The chief
birds protected are brown pelicans, gulls, terns,
herons of various kinds, and ducks.

206 BIRD FRIENDS

2. The Lake District, including two in Michigan,
two in North Dakota, and one in Wisconsin. The
principal birds protected here are breeding colonies
of gulls, ducks, and white pelicans.

3. The Mountain District, including twelve in
the Rocky Mountain States, South Dakota, and
Nebraska. These serve as a refuge for water-fowl
and shore-birds during the spring and fall migra-
tions.

4. The Pacific District, including eight in Wash-
ington, four in Oregon, and three in California. The
reservations on the coast contain great rookeries of
sea-birds. The inland reservations contain breeding
colonies of gulls, Caspian terns, grebes, white peli-
cans, ducks, and geese.

5. The Alaskan District, including eight reser-
vations. In these reservations are nesting-grounds
of sea-birds, ducks, and geese.

6. The Hawaiian District, including one reser-
vation. Large numbers of sea-birds are found here.

Besides these reservations which have been
created especially for protecting birds, there are a
number of other reservations which were set aside
for other purposes, in which birds receive special
protection. These include (1) ten National Parks;
(2) five Military Parks; (3) nine national game pre-
serves and other refuges for wild life; (4) ten reser-
vations for aquatic species; and (5) seven national
reservations made into game preserves in whole or in

BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 207

part by state laws. These, together with the bird
reservations, constitute one hundred and ten res-
ervations in which birds receive special protection.

The following are the ten National Parks that may
be considered bird refuges: Yellowstone, Wyoming;
National Zodlogical Park and Rock Creek Park,
in the District of Columbia; Sequoia, Yosemite,
and General Grant, California; Mount Rainier,
Washington; Crater Lake, Oregon; Wind Cave,
South Dakota; Glacier, Montana,— having a
total area of 4,320,000 acres.

The National Military Parks were created to
commemorate some notable engagement during
the Civil War. There are five of these, situated at
Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Antietam, Shiloh,
Gettysburg, and Vicksburg, with a total area of
eleven thousand acres. These refuges are important
because their location is such that, in connection
with some other reservations, they form a chain of
refuges almost in line with the migratory flights of
the birds.

The largest national reservation which has be-
come a game preserve through state laws is the
Superior National Forest, Minnesota, including
1,420,000 acres.

The next great step needed in the cause of bird-
protection is to make every national forest a na-
tional game preserve in which no hunting for sport
shall be allowed. Then these areas will produce

208 BIRD FRIENDS

enough birds to keep the surrounding country well
supplied.

State reservations. Some of the States have also
set aside game preserves, notably Pennsylvania
(with five), New York, Montana (with three), Wy-
oming (with two), Rhode Island, Louisiana, Idaho,
California, Oregon (with six, including 1,700,000
acres). In Wisconsin are twenty-two refuges with
an acreage of thirty thousand acres, including five
state parks, the University grounds at Madison,
and a number of private refuges. The preserves in
New York State amount to about a million acres.

In Iowa, game preserves are being established in
every county, wherein no shooting will be allowed
for five years, and where the birds will be provided
with food and shelter during severe weather.

CHAPTER XVIII
BIRD CLUBS

Meriden Bird Club. Other agencies which are
aiding the cause of bird-protection are bird clubs
which have been organized in various parts of the
country. The best known of these is the Meriden
Bird Club, in Meriden, New Hampshire, organized
through the efforts of Mr. Ernest Harold Baynes,
who has been instrumental in the organization of
many other clubs. Meriden is a small village of
about three hundred inhabitants and is the seat
of Kimball Union Academy. The students of the
Academy and the people of the village were first in-
terested in birds by lectures given by Mr. Baynes,
and in December, 1910, the club was organized. The
club had for its objects “‘ the increase and protection
of our local wild birds, the stimulation of interest
in bird life, and the gradual establishment of a
model bird sanctuary.” The total number of mem-
bers the first year was 214, and 356 the second year.
There are many associate members interested in the
formation of the club who are scattered over about
thirty States. During the winter special attention
is given to feeding the birds. In the spring, nesting-
houses are put up by the members of the club. A

210 BIRD FRIENDS

campaign has been carried on against the English
sparrows till the town is practically free of them.
Most interesting results have attended these efforts
to befriend the birds. Many nesting-houses are
occupied, and in the winter flocks of a great variety
of birds are constant visitors at the feeding-stations.
Seven species of birds in this little town have be-
come so tame as to feed from the hand.

The chief matter to which attention was given
was the establishment of a bird sanctuary. A friend
offered to give one thousand dollars toward this, and
a farm of thirty-two acres in the edge of the village
was bought and named the “Helen Woodruff Smith
Sanctuary,” after the donor. This is being gradually
developed so as to make it attractive to the birds.
Shrubs have been planted, nesting-boxes put up,
and feeding-stations planned for the winter. At the
dedication of this bird sanctuary, Perey MacKaye’s
bird masque, “‘Sanctuary,”’ was first presented.

Other activities of the club are to place bird charts
in local schools, to start a library of bird books, to
conduct a column of bird notes in the local paper,
to offer prizes for essays and photographs, and to
organize other bird clubs. The club publishes an
annual report setting forth its activities during the
year. The influence of this club has been widely felt,
and as a result many other bird clubs have been
organized.

Brush Hill Bird Club. The Brush Hill Bird Club

BIRD CLUBS 211

of Milton, Massachusetts, published its first report
in 1914. The preface begins: —

The Brush Hill Bird Club wishes to impress on all who
chance to see this Report that our Club is not composed of
learned ornithologists, in fact, most of us know compara-
tively few birds. Our aims are to protect the birds and to
attract them about our houses and grounds. Our watch-
word is “‘ Conservation.”

Following are some of the activities of this club
which were carried on in appreciation of their op-
portunity for useful service to their community : —

1. Bird-houses were put up by the members.

2. A campaign of education was waged through the
library and schools.

3. The library was supplied with bird books and
magazines.

4. Plans were made to attract birds to the public park
by providing feeding-stations, nesting-houses, and
bird-baths.

5. Bird lectures were given.

6. Articles regarding birds were supplied to the local
papers.

7. An exhibition was held in the public library.

The chief activity for the first year was the prep-
aration of this exhibition, which was kept in the
library for two months. As this is very suggestive
of what might be done elsewhere, a brief outline is
given of the chief features of this exhibit: —

1. Nesting-boxes.

2. Devices for feeding birds.
A. Feeding-stations.
B. Food-stick.

212 BIRD FRIENDS

. A bird’s Christmas-tree.

. Suet pudding.

. Home-made bird pudding.

Bird breakfast foods. (A collection of grains and

cereals to show how man can feed the birds.)

. Nature’s method of feeding the birds. (A
collection of branches of trees and shrubs
bearing berries and seeds.)

. English sparrow trap.

. Bird books and magazines.

. Bird portraits and colored outlines made by children.

. Bird games.

. Text of federal and state laws.

. Cloth signs for posting.

The constitution of the Brush Hill Bird Club is
given as being suggestive for use in the organization
of other bird clubs.

CONSTITUTION OF THE BRUSH HILL BIRD
CLUB

QO mata

COD Or SP 09

ArticLeE I — Name
This Club shall be known as the Brush Hill Bird Club.

ArticLteE If — Purpose

The purpose of this Club shall be to encourage protec-
tion of and interest in bird life in our community.

ArticLe III] — Mempersaie

Section 1. The membership in this Club shall consist of
Active Membership, Active Family Membership, Associate
Membership, Life Membership, Patrons and Benefactors.

Section 2. Any resident of the Brush Hill—Blue Hill
district of Milton may become an active member on
payment of the prescribed dues.

BIRD CLUBS 213

Secrion 3. Any family residing in the Brush Hill-
Blue Hill district of Milton may obtain a Family Mem-
bership on payment of the prescribed dues.

Section 4. Any non-resident in sympathy with the
purpose of this Club may become an Associate Member
on payment of the prescribed dues.

Section 5. Any person may become a Life Member
on payment of the prescribed fee.

Section 6. Any person may become a Patron on pay-
ment of the prescribed fee.

Section 7. Any person may become a Benefactor on
payment of the prescribed fee.

Section 8. The dues for Active Members shall be
$1, payable annually.

Section 9. The dues for Active Family Membership
shall be $5, payable annually.

Section 10. The dues for Associate Membership
shall be $1, payable annually.

Section 11. The fee for Life Membership shall be $25.

Section 12. The fee for a Patron shall be $100.

Section 13. The fee for a Benefactor shall be $1000.

Section 14. The voting power shall be limited to ac-
tive members.

Articte [IV — Meerines or tae Cius

Meetings shall be held at the discretion of the Execu-
tive Committee. The first meeting after September 1
shall be the business meeting, at which the election of
officers for the ensuing year shall be held.

Articte V— GovERNMENT

The officers of the Club shall consist of a President,
Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and General Mana-
ger. The officers.of the Club shall constitute the Execu-
tive Committee, which Committee shall pass upon all
business that is to be brought before the Club for action.

214 BIRD FRIENDS

Burroughs Nature Club. The Burroughs Nature
Club was organized in 1910 for the purpose of study-
ing Mr. Burroughs’s writings, and local clubs have
been formed in many towns. This club has taken
a special interest in the protection of bird life.

Examples of the development of the Burroughs
Club idea appear in the bird sanctuaries established
by the organization. Among the most notable is the
““Wren’s Nest,” the old home of Joel Chandler
Harris at Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated by Mr. Bur-
roughs himself by placing a wren’s nesting-box on
a branch near the porch where so many of the Uncle
Remus stories were written.

The Cottage Grove and Fernwood Sanctuary was
established by the Rochester Burroughs Club on
the shore of Lake Ontario.

Near Ellenville, Ulster County, New York, the
Mount Meenahga estate of seven hundred acres,
in the midst of a wild section of about four thousand
acres, has become one of their regular sanctuaries,
where there have been erected over one hundred
nesting-boxes and devices for winter feeding.

Each year, Burroughs’s birthday, April 3, is ob-
served by the dedication of new sanctuaries, usually
consisting of school grounds or public parks. The
year 1915 saw this done in Utica, New York, and
in Toledo, Ohio, where the bird-boxes were made
by the children and placed in the parks, with the
codperation of the city government.

JOHN BURROUGHS AT THE DEDICATION OF “WREN’S NEST”
IN ATLANTA, GA. BY THE BURROUGHS NATURE CLUB

7a EA aad alia ET Gae 7

FIELD DAY IN RENWICK WOODS, ITHACA, N.Y.

Mr. L. A. Fuertes addressing the Cayuga Bird Club

BIRD CLUBS Q15

The Governor of Utah proclaimed Burroughs’s
birthday as a State Bird Day, with the reeommenda-
tion that the grounds surrounding all schoolhouses
and all public parks and cemeteries be dedicated
to the birds. This recommendation is rapidly being
carried out. The schools have taken it up gener-
ally, and in 1915 the campus of the University of
Utah (a tract of ground one hundred and fifteen
acres in extent) was dedicated as a bird sanctuary.

Their latest effort is to start a bird sanctuary in a
residential park bordering on Prospect Park, Brook-
lyn.

Members are urged to establish bird refuges in
the summer resorts where they spend their vaca-
tions.

Liberty Bell Bird Club. The Liberty Bell Bird
Club was organized in 1913 by the “Farm Journal,”
Philadelphia. Its object is to protect song and in-
sectivorous birds. Special effort is made to interest
people in the country. On July 1, 1916, its member-
ship was 706,000. Those who desire to become mem-
bers sign the following pledge and receive free the
club button and a little pamphlet entitled, “Guide
of the Liberty Bell Bird Club”: —

Pledge. I desire to become a member of the Liberty
Bell Bird Club, and promise to study and protect all song
and insectivorous birds and to do what I can for the Club.

The club has installed bird sanctuaries in three
of the largest cemeteries in the country.

216 BIRD FRIENDS

The “Guide” for 1916 reports that they have
fought the battle for the birds before 3577 county
superintendents and 166,471 teachers, and have in-
troduced bird-study into 15,615 schools up to July 1,
1915.

Bird club activities. The following summary
shows the activities that have been carried on by
the various bird clubs: —

1. Meetings of club members.
A. Field trips to study birds.
B. Evening meetings for the discussion of bird
topics.
2. Individual work of club members.
A. Provide nesting-houses.
B. Feed winter birds.
C. Provide fountains.
8. Work with school-children.
A. Bird talks to children.
B. Furnish pictures, bird leaflets, and bird books.
C. Form children’s bird clubs.
D. Offer prizes for best nesting-houses and essays.
E. Present feeding devices to school.
4, Means of educating the public and arousing interest.
A. Bird items in local newspapers.
B. Issuing circulars for general distribution.
C. Lectures given, open to the public.
D. Public library supplied with bird books and
magazines.
E. Exhibitions held in some public place.
5. Establish feeding-stations for winter birds.
6. Establish bird sanctuary, or make sanctuary out of
parks.
7. Manufacture and sale of devices for attracting birds.

BIRD CLUBS 217

8. Local bird warden appointed.

9. Protection of birds from their enemies.
A. Destruction of English sparrow.
B. Control of the cat.

The first annual report of the Brush Hill Bird
Club gives a list of thirty-seven bird clubs, located
chiefly in New England. The annual report of the
National Association of Audubon Societies gives a
list of twenty bird clubs affiliated with the National
Association. Mr. Ernest Harold Baynes, who has
been the prime factor in this movement, has organ-
ized about sixty bird clubs; so that there are prob-
ably about one hundred bird clubs to be found in
the United States.

The organization of a bird club enables those
interested in birds to work more effectively than
would be possible individually, and many people who
are not acquainted with birds are interested in the
opportunity for doing public service through the
conservation of valuable birds. Interest may be
aroused by having some one deliver a lecture on
birds. A club may be organized at the close of such
a lecture. Details regarding the methods to be used
are given in Mr. Ernest Harold Baynes’s “Wild
Bird Guests.”

One interesting result of these bird clubs has been
the effect upon the communities in which they have
been organized. Frequently a feeling of indifference
to bird life has been changed to one of enthusiasm

218 BIRD FRIENDS

for bird-protection. In some cases the club has served
as a center of general interest for the whole town and
has been a means of arousing a community spirit.

Other organizations which have been active in the
protection of birds and wild life in general are the
New York Zodlogical Society, the Boone and Crock-
ett Club, the Camp-fire Club of America, the Ameri-
can Game Protective and Propagation Association,
the Wild Life Protective Association, and the State
Game Protective Associations.

Private game preserves. There are in the United
States about five hundred private game preserves.
These may be controlled by hunting-clubs or pri-
vately by individuals. They are kept for the sake
of raising game, either naturally or by artificial
methods, so as to furnish shooting for the owners.
Some of them are duck preserves and marshes, and
some are upland preserves for big game or game-
birds. They may vary in size from 1000 acres or
less up to 125,000 acres. In New York State the
private game preserves comprise an area of 800,000
acres. In these preserves native game is protected
and is sure to increase, and some of the birds spread
out and help to maintain the game-supply in the
surrounding country. So while there have been
some objections raised against these private game
preserves, on the whole they tend toward the con-
servation of bird life.

In Dearborn, Michigan, Mr. Henry Ford has a

BIRD CLUBS 219

farm of twenty-eight hundred acres which has been
given to bird attraction and protection. Mr. Jeffer-
son Butler, one of Michigan’s ornithologists, was
employed before his death to superintend the devel-
opment of the farm. The entire farm is managed
with the sole thought of attracting birds. Bird-ene-
mies are disposed of. Shrubs and vines are planted
the fruits of which are eaten by birds. Thickets are
allowed to grow to furnish nesting-sites for birds. A
river has been dammed to make a marsh of thirty
acres for the water-birds. Varieties of nesting-boxes
have been put up by the hundreds. Automatic feed-
ing-devices are kept in many places and these are
well supplied with food during the winter.

The results are already evident in the increased
number of birds. One writer estimates that there
are ten times as many birds to the acre on this farm
as anywhere else in the State. In a glen by the river,
about two hundred feet long by thirty feet wide,
twenty-three pairs of birds, including fifteen species,
were found nesting in one season.

Mention may be made also of Messrs. Edward A.
MclIlhenny and Charles W. Ward, who have done
much for the protection of birds in the State of
Louisiana through the establishment of bird pre-
serves. They at first established a private preserve
of about fifty thousand acres on the coast of Louisi-
ana, in the heart of the greatest winter home of
ducks on the continent of North America. Game

220 BIRD FRIENDS

wardens were hired to protect this and to prevent
shooting. Later they gave thirteen thousand acres
of this to the State of Louisiana as a perpetual bird
refuge. They were also instrumental in having the
Marsh Island Reserve of seventy-five thousand acres
bought by Mrs. Russell Sage, who contributed
$150,000 for this purpose. This has now been of-
fered to the Government to be kept as a bird refuge.
Later the Carnegie Foundation acquired a large
tract adjoining this of about eighty-five thousand
acres, at a cost of $225,000. Together these extend
along the coast for seventy-five miles and comprise
about five hundred square miles. A fourth tract is
gradually being acquired.

In New York, Mr. E. H. Litchfield has a fenced
preserve in the Adirondacks of about ten thousand
acres. Another fenced preserve of about three thou-
sand acres in New York State is owned by Mr. C. P.
Dieterich.

In New Jersey, Mr. Charles C. Worthington has
a large bird refuge of eighty thousand acres which
he has offered to the State of New Jersey to be
held as a permanent game refuge.

Recently the Minnetonka Bird Sanctuary has
been established along Lake Minnetonka, near
Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a result of a petition of
hundreds of residents of that section. This includes
a tract of about fifty-five thousand acres. The
State Game Commission has prohibited shooting

BIRD CLUBS 221

and even the carrying of firearms either on the
lake or on a surrounding zone of land one mile in
width.

A number of years ago a tract of two acres, situ-
ated near the grounds of the University of Cincin-
nati, was purchased by a woman interested in birds,
at a cost of $250,000. This is to be made a bird park
and has been given to the city. Its development is
under the charge of the Department of Biology of
the University of Cincinnati.

City and state ornithologists. The city of Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania, has appointed a city ornithol-
ogist whose duty it is to protect birds in the city
from molestation, especially when nesting; to erect
bird-houses; to provide food for wild birds; and to
report annually upon the increase or decrease of the
birds. Under a recent law passed in Massachusetts,
the towns of Dover, Brookline, and Milton have
appointed bird wardens. Within recent years state
ornithologists have been appointed in the following
States: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Penn-
sylvania, and Delaware.

Summary of what has been accomplished in pro-
tecting the birds. During the past quarter of a cen-
tury remarkable strides have been made in the cause
of bird-protection. Thirty years ago our common
song-birds were used for millinery purposes. To-day
many States have laws forbidding the use of feathers
of wild birds for millinery purposes and the National

222 BIRD FRIENDS

Government has prohibited the importation of the
feathers of any wild birds.

Formerly game-birds were shot at all seasons of
the year, were sold in the market in large numbers,
and no limit was set on the number that could be
shot; now shooting is allowed only in the fall, the
sale of game is prohibited, and the number of game
that may be killed is limited, though there is still
opportunity for improvement along this line.

Formerly birds were almost entirely unprotected
by law, and when laws were passed, there was often
such lack of uniformity in the laws of the different
States that the protection was very inadequate.
To-day practically all the States give full protection
to valuable insectivorous birds. Formerly the Na-
tional Government gave no attention to the protec-
tion of birds; now it protects all the migratory game
and insectivorous birds and has given a closed season
of five years to many game-birds.

Formerly there was little general interest in birds
and nothing was taught about them to children in
schools. To-day there is a very wide-spread gen-
eral interest in bird life, and many children in our
schools are being taught the value of bird life and
its protection.

Formerly there were few places where birds were
safe from persecution; now there are many refuges,
national, state, and private, where birds are pro-
tected at all times.

CHAPTER XIX
NESTING-BOXES

Tue kind of protection discussed in the previous
chapters has been chiefly of a negative character,
in which the purpose is to stop the unnecessary
killing of birds and to allow them to increase by
natural methods. We come now to discuss a positive
kind of protection, which includes the negative,
but goes a step farther and seeks to increase the
number of birds by providing the conditions essen-
tial to bird life. The things which man can furnish
to meet these conditions are nesting-sites, food, and
water.

Reasons for positive protection. The reasons why
one might desire to carry on this positive kind of
protection are fourfold: first, on account of the
pleasure that one may derive from watching the birds
thus brought around the home; second, on account
of the help which the birds will render in the de-
struction of injurious insects; third, on account of
the influence that the study of birds may have upon
the children in the home and the school; and fourth,
on account of the assistance one is giving to the con-
servation of valuable birds.

The pleasures of bird-study are increased many

Q24 BIRD FRIENDS

times when one can find the birds right around one’s
home and know that he has been instrumental in
bringing them there.

From the standpoint of the gardener, fruit-grower,
and farmer, increasing the birds is a business prop-
osition, the same as when one invests in a spraying-
outfit for controlling the insects that prey upon the
fruits and vegetables; only in this case the expense
is negligible, and after the birds are once brought
to the farm and garden, their work in destroying in-
sects continues from sunrise to sunset without any
effort on the part of the farmer. There are on rec-
ord many instances showing the resulting benefits
when systematic efforts are made to encourage the
presence of birds. Mr. E. H. Forbush cites an in-
stance of four young apple trees which were in-
fested with plant-lice. Two of the trees, which were
located near houses containing families of bluebirds
and chickadees, were almost entirely cleared of the
lice by these birds, while the other two, which were
some distance away, finally died from the effect
of the pests.

Evidence of the value of attracting birds comes
also from Germany, where systematic experiments
have been carried on. In the spring of 1905 the
larvee of a moth attacked a large wood near Eisen-
bach, and stripped it almost entirely of its foliage;
while in the neighboring wood at Seebach, in which
nesting-houses had been systematically placed, the

NESTING-BOXES 225

trees were uninjured. A similar effect was noticed in
the orchards. At Seebach the trees always escaped
the devastation of insects, while the neighboring
orchards frequently suffered from their attacks.

To the parent and teacher, attracting birds has
a special interest on account of the relation of this
work to child life. Children are naturally interested
in bird life and especially enjoy making bird-houses.
This kind of work has a beneficial effect on children,
because it teaches a sort of care, a sense of responsi-
bility for those birds which their efforts have brought
around the house.

And, lastly, to every citizen interested in furthering
the conservation of the resources of the country this
work appeals. It does not follow that one need to
be especially familiar with the birds in order to be
interested in this line of work, if one but appreciates
the value of bird life and the need of conserving it.
Some of the bird clubs recently organized have been
formed by people who know very few birds, but who
are interested in doing something for the welfare of
the community in which they live.

Need of nesting-boxes. With the rapid increase
of population in our cities and towns and their cor-
responding growth countryward, orchards, decaying
trees, shrubbery, and other nesting-sites are steadily
disappearing. As a result, in the suburbs of cities
birds that nest in cavities find it difficult to obtain
suitable nesting-sites, and as the old sites are cut

226 BIRD FRIENDS

down the birds are driven farther out in the country
to nest.

Birds using boxes. Whether any particular kind
of bird will use a nesting-box depends primarily on
its natural nesting-site. If it nests in a hollow tree
or limb, there is a possibility that it may occupy
these artificial nesting-boxes. There are other birds
which usually build their nests in the open that may
use open nesting-boxes. The birds which have been
actually known to nest in bird-houses, as far as the
author has been able to secure any records, are the
following: —

Birds using nesting-houses

(Those marked with a * are quite common occupants)

*Bluebirds: —
Eastern (Sialia sialis sialis).
Western (Sialia mexicana occidentalis).
Mountain (Sialia currucoides).
Chickadees : —
Black-capped (Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus).
Oregon (Penthestes atricapillus occidentalis).
Carolina (Penthestes carolinensis carolinensis).
Duck, wood (Aix sponsa).
Finch, house (Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis).
*Flicker (Colaptes auratus luteus).
Flycatcher, crested (Myiarchus crinitus).
Hawk, sparrow (Falco sparverius sparverius).
*Martin, purple (Progne subis subis).
Nuthatch, red-breasted (Sitta canadensis).
Nuthatch, white-breasted (Sitta carolinensis carolinensis).
Owl, screech (Otus asio asio).

NESTING-BOXES 227

*Sparrow, English (Passer domesticus).
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris).
*Swallows: —

Tree (Iridoprocne bicolor).

Violet-green (Tachycineta thalassina lepida).
Titmouse, tufted (Beolophus bicolor).
Warbler, prothonotary (Protonotaria citrea).
Woodpeckers: —

Downy (Dryobates pubescens medianus).

Hairy (Dryobates villosus villosus).

Red-headed (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).

*Wrens: —

House (Troglodytes aédon aédon).

Parkman’s (Troglodytes aédon parkmant).

Bewick’s (Thryomanes bewicki).

Texas (Thryomanes bewicki cryptus).

Vigors’s (Thryomanes bewicki spilurus).

The following have been reported as using the
nesting-boxes of the open type; cardinal, catbird,
purple finch, grackle, mockingbird, orchard oriole,
pheebe, robin, song sparrow, and brown thrasher.

Types of houses. The great variety of houses now
being made may conveniently be classified into three
groups, based on the attempt to imitate the natural
nesting-sites of birds. In the first group are those
houses made in imitation of a woodpecker’s nesting-
site, both inside and outside; in the second group
are those which imitate the natural nesting-sites on
the outside only; and in the third group are those
which make no attempt to imitate the natural nest-
ing-sites either inside or outside.

Imitation both outside and inside. The best-

228 BIRD FRIENDS

known houses of the first group are those devised by
Baron von Berlepsch in Germany. He has made a
special study of woodpeckers’ nests, collecting hun-
dreds of them, and he finds that they all agree in the
following features: the opening is always circular
and of unvarying size for each species; the lower
portion of the nesting-cavity is enlarged in a gourd
shape, and ends in a pointed trough at the bottom;
the inner walls are roughened somewhat to allow the
birds to cling to them more easily; and in the extreme
point of the nest are a few fine shavings. Baron von
Berlepsch has constructed a nesting-house embody-
ing all these features. The results following the use
of this house are very remarkable. Of five thousand
boxes hung up by Baron von Berlepsch in his own
woods, and of about ten thousand hung up in other
localities by state authorities, ninety per cent or over
were occupied. And this was true in some localities
where unsuccessful experiments have been tried in
previous years with other kinds of nesting-boxes.
These houses are being made and sold in large quan-
tities by a German manufacturer, and in one case
are being made and used on a large scale by German
state authorities. They are now being made by at
least two firms in this country. This type may be
made by splitting a limb in two and hollowing out
the inside of each half in the proper shape and then
fastening the two parts together by means of screws
or nails.

LONGITUDINAL SECTIONS OF WOODPECKER’S HOLE AND
OF VON BERLEPSCH NESTING-BOX

NATURAL NESTING-SITE OF A FLICKER IN AN OLD
APPR: TREE

NESTING-BOXES 229

Imitation on outside only. In this type the houses
are made of sections of small trees or of pieces of wood
with the bark on, but there is no attempt to make the
inside conform to the shape of a woodpecker’s nest.
It may be cylindrical, cubical, or of irregular shape.
This type includes the following kinds of houses;
bark houses, boxes made of slabs with the bark on,
hollow limbs and sections of limbs, or small trees
with a hole excavated by boring lengthwise with
a large auger.

Bark houses. Very attractive houses can be made
entirely of bark. Limbs of trees, or small trees of the
desired size, should be cut into sections of ten or
twelve inches in length, about the latter part of
June. The bark can be easily removed and with the
addition of a roof and floor may easily be made into
a nesting-box. Very good imitations of tree-trunks
may be secured by constructing boxes out of slabs
with the bark on.

Sections of hollow trees or limbs make some of
the very best bird-houses. Sometimes pieces may
be found with the center already decayed, in which
case it is only necessary to saw off a section of the
desired length, fasten on a floor and a roof, and
make the entrance hole. It is desirable that the roof
be put on in such a way as to be readily removed.
To hollow out a solid limb, saw it in halves from
one end to about three inches from the other, where
a cross-cut is made at right angles. The two pieces

230 BIRD FRIENDS

may be gouged out to the desired size and wired or
screwed together, so that they can be easily taken
apart if desired; or if one has a large auger, a hole
may be bored.

No attempt at imitation. The third type of house,
in which no attempt is made to imitate the natural
nesting-site, may be classified, according to the ma-
terial of which they are made, as follows: wood, tin,
pottery, cement, roofing-paper, and gourds. Of these
wood is the most easily obtained and the most easily
worked. A satisfactory box can be made out of or-
dinary boards, the older the better, as the birds
are apt to be frightened away by new boards; but
if new boards are used, they should be smeared
with moist sand and exposed to the weather as long
as possible before the birds are expected to use the
house, or they may be stained or painted green or
brown.

Tin houses. Quite a variety of houses may be
made from various kinds of tin receptacles, such
as tomato-cans, varnish-cans, coffee-cans, etc., by
fitting in at one end a circular piece of wood con-
taining the entrance hole. The author has been
very successful in attracting house wrens by using
old tomato-cans. An empty can was placed upon a
hot stove, with the cut end down, till the solder
was melted, and then the rest of the cover was
knocked off with a poker. A circular piece of wood
from a half-inch board was cut out so as to fit into

NESTING-BOXES 231

the can. A one-inch hole was made in the board
a little above the center, and then the board was
fastened in place by driving tacks through the tin.
Nails were driven obliquely through the rear of
the can into a strip of wood, by means of which the
house was fastened in the desired position; or the
can may be suspended by means of wire placed
around it. In one can of this sort, made by the au-
thor, there were successfully reared, in four succes-
sive seasons, five broods of house wrens, making a
total of from twenty-five to thirty young birds.

Pottery houses. The author has seen two styles
of houses made of pottery or earthenware that are
now on the market. This type of house has the ad-
vantage of being very durable as it is not affected
by the weather.

Cement boxes. One manufacturer makes cement
boxes. These are durable and do not admit of
undesirable birds and squirrels enlarging the hole.
The cement also allows some ventilation. They are
made with removable lids.

Boxes of roofing-paper. Another manufacturer
makes houses out of roofing-paper. These are of
cylindrical shape, light and durable. The top may
be easily lifted and the box cleaned.

Comparison of types. When we come to compare
these different types to decide which is the most
attractive to the birds, we find each type of box
has its champions. Mr. E. H. Baynes, in his “‘ Wild

232 BIRD FRIENDS

Bird Guests,” writes very enthusiastically of the
Von Berlepsch type, and prefers it to any other type.
He cites twelve species of birds known to use these
boxes, of which three species, the hairy and downy
woodpeckers and the red-breasted nuthatch, have
never been known to use any other type. On the
other hand, Mr. Edward H. Forbush, after three
years’ trial of the Von Berlepsch type comes to
the conclusion that most Massachusetts birds do
not prefer them to the hollow kind or even to the
rectangular box. But the only way of finding out
is to put up the different types of houses, side by
side, and see which the birds choose. This has been
done by several men and the results in these cases
were that most birds showed a preference for the
plain-box type over the hollow-log type. This pref-
erence doubtless varies for different birds and pos-
sibly for the same species in different parts of the
country.

So far as the author has been able to gather evi-
dence on this question, the following seems a fair
statement of the case at the present time: — Wrens,
bluebirds, and tree swallows will occupy almost any
convenient type, perhaps preferring the plain wooden
box; the chickadee and flicker will probably select
one type as quickly as the other, while other wood-
peckers, such as the downy and the hairy, and the
nuthatches, which have not occupied bird-houses
so commonly, may prefer the hollow-log type. It

THREE TYPES OF NESTING-BOXES

OPEN NESTING-BOXES FOR ROBIN AND PHCEBE

NESTING-BOXES

is impossible to make any definite statement re-
garding this matter till a large number of experi-

233

ments have been tried.

The following table shows the number of houses
occupied on the author’s place of about three acres,
situated on the edge of a small city: —

Size and shape of house. The size of the house
depends on the size of the nest made by the birds.
The bottom of the box should be just large enough
to accommodate the nest usually built by the bird.
In the case of woodpeckers, which make no nests,
the size of the house depends on the size of the bird.

A great variety of shapes may be employed. Some
boxes have the long axis vertical, some horizontal,
and others are nearly cubical in shape. Probably no
one shape is best for all birds, but the box with the
long axis vertical has one advantage, that it can be
made practically cat-proof if it is built very deep,

234 BIRD FRIENDS

has the entrance hole near the top, and has the
roof project well out over the hole.

Size of entrance hole. Two features of the en-
trance hole are of great importance, its size and lo-
cation. The size is important because this enables
one to keep out larger birds than the one for which
the house is intended. This is one successful way
of keeping out the English sparrow from houses
intended for the wren and the chickadee, and the
starling from houses intended for these birds and
for the bluebird and the tree swallow.

The smallest hole the English sparrow can enter
is one and a quarter inches, and the starling one and
three quarters inches. Thus a one-and-one-eighth-
inch hole will exclude the sparrow and a one-and-
five-eighths-inch hole the starling.

The birds may be classed in four groups accord-
ing to the size of the hole needed: —

First group: small birds that can use a hole too
small for the English sparrow, one and one eighth
inches or less; chickadee, house wren, Bewick’s wren,
Carolina wren.

Second group: medium-sized birds that can use
a hole too small for the starling, one and one fourth
inches to one and five eighths inches; tufted tit-
mouse, white-breasted nuthatch, downy wood-
pecker, bluebird, violet-green swallow, tree swallow,
hairy woodpecker.

Third group: large birds that require an entrance

NESTING-BOXES 235

of two or three inches; house finch, crested fly-
catcher, red-headed woodpecker, flicker, martin,
saw-whet owl, screech owl, sparrow hawk.
Fourth group: extra large birds that require an
entrance of six inches; wood duck and barn owl.
The size of the floor for the various groups should
be about as follows: —

First, group sis ercsases ee eees 4 inches square
Second group............... 5-6 inches square
Third group..............-. 6-8 inches square
Fourth group...............--- 10 x 18 inches

Location of entrance hole. A second important
point about the entrance hole relates to its loca-
tion. It should be near the top, except for the mar-
tins. This is for two reasons; first, it serves as a
better protection from cats, and, second, it makes
it necessary for the young to be well matured before
they are able to climb to the hole and leave the box,
and as a result they will be better able to care for
themselves and to escape such enemies as the cat
and the squirrel.

Movable covers for cleaning box. It is best to
have all boxes made so that they can be easily
opened. This is advantageous for two reasons: first,
because, if the sparrows are using the house, their
eggs may be taken out; and, second, because early
each spring the house should be cleaned of the old
nest and any other material that may be found
there. In nature the birds’ nesting-sites are not

236 BIRD FRIENDS

cleaned out, but observations that have been made
of nesting-boxes seem to indicate that birds will
more readily cccupy a box that has no nesting-
material in it. The construction of the nest is a part
of the cycle of activities that goes with the period
of reproduction, and doubtless it is best to give this
nest-building instinct free play. The roof of the
house can easily be fastened on by hinges and at-
tached in front by a clasp.

Putting out the box. In putting out the box one
needs to consider the following matters: (1) the
time, (2) the location, (3) the height, (4) the method
of fastening, (5) protection from enemies.

Time to put out. It is well to put the boxes out
early. For some weeks before the birds seem to be
ready to begin nesting, they are undoubtedly flying
about searching for a site, and the houses, if placed
out early, may induce some birds to stay of whose
presence we might not otherwise have had the least
intimation. By putting the houses out early, they
will also become more weather-beaten and lose
something of their new appearance. Some birds
rear two broods, as the wren and bluebird, in which
case the box may be occupied by the second brood,
even if it is not placed out till late in the season.

In the case of the martin-house, if it is kept up all
the year, it is well to cover the holes till the mar-
tins return in the spring, so as to keep out the spar-
rows. And likewise with the other houses, when

BLUEBIRD AT ENTRANCE TO HOUSE WREN AND
NESTING-BOX TOMATO-CAN HOUSE

TREE SWALLOW AT MARTIN-HOUSE
NESTING-BOX Accommodating five thousand birds

NESTING-BOXES 237

the sparrows begin nesting in them very early, the
holes may be covered till time for the native birds
to return.

Houses for woodpeckers should have a small
amount of a mixture of dry dirt and sawdust placed
in them to take the place of the peckings of wood
that the birds leave in their holes.

Location of box. The location of the box is im-
portant. Very few birds will occupy a box in the
dense woods, so that boxes should not be placed in
heavy shade, but should be well exposed. Boxes may
be placed on grape arbors and trees in the yard, and
even on porches. Telephone-poles furnish good lo-
cations. Experiments that have been made seem to
indicate that birds prefer a house placed on a post
to one placed on a tree and that they prefer houses
in the open or light shade to those in the dense shade.

Mr. Edward H. Forbush, State Ornithologist of
Massachusetts, in his annual report for 1915 gives
the results of his experiments with nesting-boxes
during the past season. Twenty-five boxes were
erected on poles in the open, and fifty boxes on trees.
A census taken on July 4 showed that of the houses
on poles ninety-six per cent were occupied by birds
(including one pair of English sparrows; the other
sparrows were driven away by removing their eggs);
while of the boxes on trees only eight per cent were
occupied. Mr. Forbush also cites the case of an-
other man who mounted twenty-one nesting-boxes

238 BIRD FRIENDS

on short poles on the posts of his pasture fences, of
which eighteen boxes, or eighty-six per cent were
occupied. For three years the author had a nesting-
box placed at the edge of the woods, during which
time it was unoccupied. In the spring of 1915 this
was taken down and placed on a post supporting a
martin-house. Within two days it was occupied by
a pair of bluebirds. These results all point strongly
to the conclusion that more boxes will be occupied
if they are put on posts in the open than if put on
trees. Although the author has had many houses
occupied that were placed on trees, in most cases
these were isolated trees standing in the yard.
Boxes put up in the woods and on trees are more
apt to be occupied by such enemies of the birds as
squirrels.

Martins prefer their houses out in the open at
some little distance from trees or buildings.

Height. Excessive heights should be avoided.
in general birds prefer medium heights, from eight
to twenty feet. The details for the different birds
are given in the table on page 243.

Method of fastening. The house should be fast-
ened so that it is secure against the winds, but so
that it can be taken down easily without injuring
the box. Some have a screw-eye or loop of wire
which can be placed on a hook; others have a hole
in the back which will fit over a nail; others have
an extension of the back at the top and bottom by

NESTING-BOXES 239

which they can be nailed or screwed up; and still
others are suspended so as to swing in the wind.

When houses are put up on posts, the posts may
be jointed near the ground so that they can easily be
taken down. This may be done by setting into the
ground a short post projecting a few feet above the
surface, and fastening to this the post on which
the box is placed. The two posts may be fastened
together by means of a large hinge and clasp, or by
joining the two posts by two long bolts. When it
is desired to take down the house, one bolt may
be removed and the post rotated around the other.
If the house is heavy, as for the martins, two posts
may be driven into the ground and the other post
fastened between them.

Protection from the cat. Two enemies of our
native birds are unfortunately very common, the
cat and the English sparrow. The birds can be pro-
tected from the cat to some extent, in the construc-
tion of the house, if this is made deep with the
entrance hole placed near the top and with the roof
projecting well out over the entrance. Still further
protection may be given after the house is put up.
A piece of zine or tin about two feet wide may be
wrapped around the tree or post below the box and
fastened at such a height that the cat cannot leap
above it from the ground. It is unable to climb over
this. If boxes are placed on slippery poles, cats
seldom climb them. A method used on the Ford

240 BIRD FRIENDS

farm is to fasten the boxes to the top of posts by
means of iron bands about two feet long. Several
of the dealers mentioned at the close of this chap-
ter advertise cat guards that may be put around
posts or trees.

Protection from the English sparrow. Various de-
vices have been tried in the construction of the house
and the method of putting it out, to protect birds
from the sparrow. Of these devices the author knows
of only one which is always successful; that is to
make the hole so smal! (one and one eighth inches
or less) that the sparrow cannot enter, but large
enough for small birds such as the wren and chick-
adee. Other devices which have been suggested,
such as leaving off the perch from the house and sus-
pending the house so that it can move, are not uni-
versally successful. In the author’s experience they
have proved of little value. He has found that the
sparrows do not use the moving houses as often as
the stationary houses, but they do use them in about
the same proportion as the other birds, so that little
is gained in suspending the houses.

If the sparrows begin to use a box, the eggs can
be removed every week or two and thus the birds
may be prevented from raising young, at least, and
sometimes the sparrows will leave and thus give an
opportunity for other birds to use the box. On May
26, 1915, Mr. E. H. Forbush found in twenty-five
of his nesting-boxes, ten tree swallows’ nests, ten

NESTING-BOXES 241

English sparrows’, and two bluebirds’. Shortly after
this the eggs of the sparrows were removed and no
more eggs were laid, although a new nest was built.
On July 4, there were twenty swallows’ nests, three
bluebirds’, and one English sparrow’s. So that as
a result of removing the sparrows’ eggs the number
of native birds using the boxes was about doubled.
But the only final solution of the problem seems to
be to kill the sparrow either by shooting or by trap-
ping, as explained in Chapter XTV.

The most essential points to consider in making
bird-boxes may be briefly summarized as follows:
(1) the size of the entrance hole, which should be
of the right size for the bird desired; (2) the lo-
cation of the box, which should be on posts in the
open rather than on trees in the shade; and (3)
the protection of the boxes from the birds’ enemies,
especially, the cat, the English sparrow, and the
squirrels. Of secondary importance are the following
points; material of which made, size, shape, type,
height put out, and direction in which the entrance
hole faces.

Open houses. There are some birds which do not
nest ‘in cavities, that will, however, build nests in
shelters having open sides. Birds which have been re-
ported as using these shelters are listed on page 227.

For the catbird, song sparrow, and brown thrasher
the shelter should be open on all four sides and
placed in shrubbery where these birds nest.

Q4Q BIRD FRIENDS

OPEN SHELTERS

Height
Name of bird Kind of Floor | Height | above
shelter (inches) | (inches) | ground
(feet)
Robi vev. pees va eeoaties One or more
sides open | 6x8 8 6 to 15
Phebe: vine sccaeiss cass One or more
sides open | 6x6 6 8 to 12
Barn swallow........... One or more
sides open | 6x6 6 8to12
Song sparrow........... All sides open| 6x6 6 lto 3
Brown thrasher......... All sides open| 7x9 8 lto 3
Cathie. ise. caoresareresae cesar Allsides open} 6x8 8 3 to 10

A shelter with the front and two ends open may
be placed where robins and pheebes naturally nest,
and sometimes simple shelves placed in appropriate
situations are used by these birds.

A shelter with the front and one side open, if
placed under the eaves of a barn, may be occupied
by barn swallows.

Some of the important points to consider in the
building of a box for a particular bird are given for
convenience in tke accompanying tabular form,
which is taken, with some changes, from Farmer’s
Bulletin No. 609, “Bird-Houses and How to Build
Them.” These are arranged in the order of the size
of the entrance, the smallest first.

NESTING-BOXES 243
NESTING-BOXES
Diameter | Floor of ries Entrance| Hi ley
. of Cavity | of Cavity| above | above
Name of bird entrance floor | ground
(inches) | (inches) | (inches) | (inches) | (feet)
a ( House wren...... 1 4x 4] 6to 8] 4to 6| 6tol0
8 Bewick’s wren. ... 1 4x 4] 6to 8/ 4to 6| 6tol0d
& | Vigors’s wren .... 1 4x 4] 6to 8] 4to 6] 6told
‘J Carolina chickadee} 1 4x 4] 6to 8| 4to 6] 8tol0d
© | Carolina wren.... ii 4x 4] 6to 8| 4&to 6} 6told
E Black-capped
Gg | _ chickadee......) 14 4x 4] 8tol0| 6to 8| 6told
| Parkman’s wren. . 14 4x 4] 6to 8] 4to 6} 8told
Tufted titmouse. . 1} 4x 4] 8tol0|] 6to 8] 6told
White-breasted
on nuthatch...... 14 4x 41] 8tol0] 6to 8 |12to20
8 Downy wood-
a pecker......... 1} 4x 4] 8tol10| 7to 9| 6to20
204 Bluebird......... 1¢ 5x 5 | 8tol0| 6to 8| 5tol0
a Violet-green
8 swallow ....... 14 5x 5 6| 4to 5/10to15
2 | Tree swallow..... 14 5x 5 6] 4to 5|10told
Hairy wood-

pecker........ 2 6x 6 | 12to15 | 10 to 12 | 12 to 20
Flicker.......... 24 7x 7 |16to18/14to16| 6to20
Martin.......... Qk 6x 6 6 1 | 15 to 20
Saw-whet owl.... Qh 6x 6 | 10to12} 8tol0/12to20
Sparrow hawk.... 3 8x 8 | 12tol5 | 10to12 | 10 to 30
Screech owl...... 3 8x 8 | 12tol5 | 10to12/10 to 30
Barn owl........ 6 10x18 | 15to18 4 |12to18
Wood duck...... 6 10x18 | 10to15 3 | 4to 20

Martins. Martins prefer to nest in colonies, so
that houses should be provided which contain a
number of compartments. Each dimension of a sin-
gle room should be about six or seven inches. The

Q44 BIRD FRIENDS

entrance hole may be either square or circular, and
should be about two and a half inches across. The
best height for erecting the house is from fifteen to
twenty feet, although houses placed much higher
have been used. To prevent the English sparrow
from getting established early in the spring, the
house may be taken down in the fall and put up
again in the spring. This may be easily done if the
pole is put up as suggested on page 239. Directions
for making a simple house out of a barrel are given
in Mr. E. H. Forbush’s “‘Useful Birds and Their
Protection.”” This type of house has been adopted
by the Meriden Bird Club.

Most birds will use a hole which just permits
them to enter, but the martin prefers a hole large
enough to admit light while it is entering, so that
while it could just enter a one-and-five-eighths-inch
hole, the openings in martin-houses are made
about two and one half inches in diameter. As it
seems probable that starlings may drive martins
from their houses, it has been suggested that the
hole be made small enough (one and five eighths
inches) to exclude the starling and that a small hole
about one half inch in diameter be bored above the
entrance to admit light while the bird is entering.

Providing nesting-material. There are still other
birds, which, while they will not allow us to choose
the exact site of their nest for them, may sometimes
be induced to nest in our immediate vicinity if some

NESTING-BOX

CH OWL

SCI

MR. FORBUSH’S

NESTING-BOXES 245

materials which can be utilized in the construction
of the nest are put in a conspicuous place which is
easily accessible. An examination which the author
made of a collection of nests showed that twenty-one
species used materials provided for them by man.
Horsehair was used by eleven species, strings by
seven, mud by four, paper by three, cloth by two,
and feathers by two. The Baltimore oriole uses a
large amount of such materials as string and yarn;
the chipping sparrow nearly always lines its nest
with horsehair; robins commonly use pieces of cloth;
vireos, the wood pewee, the least flycatcher, and the
kingbird may line their nests with cotton batting.

: Material to be exposed. Some of the materials
which may be exposed on fences, bushes, trees, etc.,
are the following: yarn, string, thread, rags, horse-
hair, straw, tufts of cotton and wool, small strips of
cloth, pieces of grapevine bark, feathers, cotton
batting, and shoemakers’ flax. This flax is a good
substitute for the plant-fibers which many birds use.
The yarn and strings should be of a somber color,
and should be cut into lengths of not over twelve
inches, lest the birds become entangled and hang
themselves. If any of this material is taken by the
birds, it furnishes opportunity for locating the nest,
so that it may be watched and such means taken
as may be necessary to protect the occupants. Dur-
ing dry seasons, if pans of mud are set in easily ac-
cessible and protected places, they may be found and

246 BIRD FRIENDS

used by such birds as the robin, barn swallow, and
pheebe.

Results. As one example of what results one may
expect, the table on page 233 shows the results on
the author’s place for the years 1914 and 1915.

Mr. Neil M. Ladd, of Greenwich, Connecticut,
reports that on his place of ten acres there were but
twelve nests representing four species when he first
began to take steps to increase the birds around his
home. As a result of four years’ efforts, the number
was increased to seventy-five nests representing
twenty species.

Mr. Edward H. Forbush, in his annual report for
1915, writes that within an area of eight acres on his
farm, during the season of 1915, one hundred and
twenty-six young birds were reared, representing
four species, where prior to 1914 not one bird of any
of these species was reared, or could have been
reared, as there were no nesting-places for them.

Dealers in apparatus to attract birds. One of the
most interesting developments during the past five
years has been the appearance of a large number of
dealers who advertise for sale various types of ap-
pliances for attracting birds. The appearance of
these dealers indicates that there is a widespread
interest in birds and a demand for these appliances.
Below is given a list of the dealers whose advertise-
ments the author has seen. All publish circulars
which may be had on application.

NESTING-BOXES 247

The following abbreviations are used to indicate
the nature of the apparatus for sale by each dealer:

(N =nesting-boxes; M=martin-houses; W=winter feeding
devices; F =fountains; S =sparrow-traps; C =cat-traps.)

American Column Company, Battle Creek, Michigan. N.

The Audubon Bird-House Company, Meriden, New Hamp-
shire. N; W; F; C.

Chicago Birdhouse Company, 624 South Norton Street,
Chicago. N; M; W; F; 5; C.

Albert Crescent, Thom’s River, New Jersey. N; M; W; S.

Joseph H. Dodson, 701 Security Building, Chicago. N; M; W;
F; §; C.

Henry A. Dreer, 714 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. N; M; W;
BS.

Electric Fountain Co., 348 G West 42d St., New York City.
F,

Farley and Loelscher Manufacturing Company, Dubuque, Iowa.
N; M; W; S.

Garden Unique, 3163 Iveson Ave., Berwin, Ill. N.

Greenwich Bird Protective Society, Greenwich, Connecticut.
N; W; 5; C.

Holm & Olson, 20 W. Fifth St., St. Paul, Minn. N; W; F.

Ideal Bird-House Company, New Windsor, Maryland. N; M.

Jacobs Bird-House Company, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. N;
M; W; 5S.

Jersey Keystone Wood Co., Trenton, N.J. N; W.

Louis Kuertz, Route 2, Loveland, Ohio. N; M; W.

Lansing Company, Lansing, Mich. N.

Liberty Bell Bird Club, “Farm Journal,’’ Philadelphia. N;M;
W; S.

H. B. Logan, Montevideo, Minnesota. N; M.

Maplewood Biological Laboratory, Stamford, Connecticut. N;
M; W; F.

Matthews Manufacturing Company, Williamson Building,
Cleveland, Ohio. N; M; W; F; 8.

Henry F. Mitchell, 518 Market Street, Philadelphia, N; M.

Neighorhood Craft, Locust Valley, Long Island, N.Y. N; M;
W.

248 BIRD FRIENDS

Winthrop Packard, Canton, Massachusetts. N; M; W.

Philip E. Perry, P.O. Box 2275, Boston, Massachusetts. N.

Pinedale Bird-Nesting-Box Company, Wareham, Massa-
chusetts. N.

Rookwood Pottery Co., Cincinnati, O. F.

Sharonware Workshop, 42 Lexington Avenue, New York City.
F.

Simplex Bird Apparatus Company, Demarest, New Jersey.
Ww.

West Chester Bird-Box Company, West Chester, Pennsyl-
vania. N.

Wheatley Pottery Company, 2426 Reading Place, Cincinnati,
Ohio. N; F.

Charles E. White, Box 45, Kenilworth, Illinois. N; W.

Whip-O-Will-O Furniture Co., 352 Adams Ave., Scranton, Pa.
N; W; F.

CHAPTER XX
FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS

Durine the winter season the opportunity of-
fered for studying birds, at a time when nature’s
activities are at their lowest ebb, is most welcome,
and especially so because the birds may become so
tame that they will feed from the window-sill while
one is sitting just inside the window, thus affording
opportunity to observe them at close range.

Value to man. There is also a great practical
value in attracting the birds around the farm and
garden that they may feed upon insects’ eggs and
hibernating insects and remain in the spring to
attack the newly hatched caterpillars.

A very instructive experiment was tried by Mr.
Forbush in Massachusetts. An old neglected or-
chard was selected, and during the winter special
effort was made to attract the birds by means of suet
and other foods. By this means nuthatches, chicka-
dees, woodpeckers, and creepers were attracted to
the orchard, remaining during the winter months.
Observations of the feeding-habits and examination
of the stomach-contents of a few chickadees showed
that they were eating large numbers of eggs of the
fall canker-worm moth, and the larve and pupz

250 BIRD FRIENDS

of other injurious insects. In the spring, when the
female canker-worm moths appeared in the orchard
the chickadee fed on these. While the trees in the
neighboring orchards were badly infected with the
worms, comparatively few were found in the or-
chard which had been frequented by the winter
birds, and the few which did appear were easily dis-
posed of by the summer birds which came to the
locality. The trees in other orchards were almost
stripped of their foliage, while this one retained
its leaves, and, with one exception, was the only
orchard in the neighborhood to produce any fruit.
It should be noted that the exception was the near-
est orchard to the one on which the experiment
was tried.

Need of feeding birds in winter. The winter is
a season when, from the bird’s standpoint, assist-
ance in obtaining food is particularly welcome.
When heavy snows lie on the ground, much of the
supply of the seed-eating birds is hidden; and when
the tree-trunks are covered with ice, insect-eating
birds find it difficult to break through this coating,
to secure insects and their eggs in the bark beneath.
Under ordinary conditions our birds can withstand
quite cold weather if they are well supplied with
food; but their food is digested so quickly that birds
require a large amount of it and frequent access to
it. Birds may also perish from exposure to seyere
storms and weather, as well as from starvation, so

=
—

DOWNY WOODPECKER

HERMIT THRUSH

A BIRD’S TEPEE

Made of bean-poles with the vines
still attached

SELF-SUPPLYING FEED BOX

FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS 251

that shelter as well as food is necessary to protect
the winter birds.

Birds to expect. The success of winter feeding
and the kinds of birds one may expect to come and
feed vary with the locality and with the season. In
general more birds will visit feeding-stations in the
Northern States, where the severe storms cover their
natural food-supply, than in the Southern States,
and one may expect more birds during a severe win-
ter with heavy snows than in a mild winter with
little snow.

From a number of reports recorded in “Bird-
Lore” and elsewhere, including forty-five observers,
representing fourteen States, situated chiefly in the
northeastern section of the country, the author has
made a brief summary of the birds known to eat
food put out for them. This includes forty-nine
species of birds of which the ten most common in
the order of frequency are the chickadee, white-
breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, blue jay,
junco, hairy woodpecker, tree sparrow, red-breasted
nuthatch, brown creeper, and song sparrow.

Feeding from the hand. With the exercise of a
little patience there is the possibility, not only that
birds will come to the window to feed, but that they
will soon feed out of one’s hand. Of the forty-nine
species of birds previously mentioned as using food
provided for them, twenty-nine have become suffi-
ciently tame to feed from a window shelf, and thir-

Q52 BIRD FRIENDS

teen have fed from the hand. Those reported as
feeding from the hand, arranged in the order of the
number of records, are the chickadee, red-breasted
nuthatch, white-breasted nuthatch, redpoll, tufted
titmouse, Oregon jay, Canada jay, evening gros-
beak, bluebird, chipping sparrow, pine grosbeak,
white-winged crossbill, and’ pine siskin.

Kinds of food. As far as possible one should put
out the kinds of food which birds prefer; but in
times of great hunger birds will eat many foods
which under ordinary circumstances would not be
attractive to them. Birds may be divided into two
groups according to their food habits, seed-eating
and insect-eating, although many birds eat both
seeds and insects. But this suggests that we may seek
to find substitutes for these two classes of natural
food. Without question the best food for insectiv-
orous birds is suet. It is cheap, does not freeze
easily, and is eaten by many birds.

The seed-eating birds live largely on weed seeds in
nature, but many other kinds of seeds are relished
by them. Among the best are hemp, sunflower,
millet, and peanuts. Other foods which have been
eaten by birds are: crumbs, cracked corn, fat pork,
dog-biscuits, oats, oatmeal, ‘squash seed, nuts, mar-
row of bones, wheat, and boiled rice.

The food should be supplied with regularity, par-
ticularly so during stormy or severe weather, so
that the birds may be able to find a supply at all

FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS 253

times. Care should be taken, in the use of such foods
as decay or sour easily, to see that the spoiled food is
removed and a fresh supply provided; at times it
may be well to supply water.

Methods of putting out food. Food may be put
out in a great variety of ways: (1) on the ground,
(2) on shelves, (3) fastened on limbs of trees, (4)
in suet baskets, (5) on old Christmas trees, (6) in
an automatic hopper, (7) in an Audubon food-
house, (8) in a weathercock food-house, (9) in a
window box, and (10) on a moving counter.

On the ground. To supply seed-eating birds, a
bit of ground may be swept clear of the snow, or the
snow trampled down, and chaff, crumbs, and the
various kinds of grain and other seeds scattered
there. To this may come such birds as the sparrow,
junco, snow bunting, blue jay, and quail. This food
may be protected by means of boards placed over
it in the form of an “A.” A large brush-heap,
covered well with evergreen boughs, with grain
thrown under it, does very well.

Shelves. Various kinds of shelves may be used.
Tn its simplest form a shelf may consist of a board at-
tached to a tree, with a narrow strip around the edge
to prevent the food from being blown off. This may
be placed at first at a little distance till the birds
become accustomed to coming to it, and then brought
nearer to the house; or it may be placed on the top
of a short post.

254 BIRD FRIENDS

Window shelf. The shelf may be placed at a win-
dow, and many birds will become so tame that they
will feed here, even when a person is sitting by the
window inside. This shelf should be wide, so as to
allow room for a number of birds to dine at once.
If covered with burlap, the small seeds and crumbs
will blow away less easily. It would doubtless be
worth while to arrange some kind of awning or roof
over this to keep off the snow, so that the birds
might be able to find food during the storms.

Suet-box. Suet may be tied to branches of trees,
or a suet-box, adapted for hanging on a tree, can be
easily made. A piece of half-inch board about five
by six inches forms the back. Around this on the
two sides and across the bottom are nailed strips
of narrow half-inch boards, about two inches
wide. Across these strips is fastened a piece of
poultry-wire netting with one-inch mesh or a piece
of hardware cloth. The top of the box is left open
for inserting the suet. A screw-eye is screwed into
the top of the back so that the box may be sus-
pended from a nail driven into a tree. This pre-
vents the birds from carrying off large pieces of suet
and wasting it, but enables them to feed through
the meshes. Suet-baskets may be bought of several
of the dealers listed in Chapter XIX.

Christmas tree. After the Christmas season is
over, instead of throwing away the tree, it may be
loaded with food for the birds. Suet and berries may

SUET-BASKETS

One in lower left-hand corner made by fifth-grade boy in manual-training
department

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS 255

be fastened to the branches and bags containing
seeds and nuts may be suspended. This tree may
be fastened upright in the yard or the small tip may
be placed on a window shelf.

Automatic hopper. Several automatic feeders on
the principle of poultry hoppers are now for sale
on the market, or they can be easily made. The
large hopper can be filled with seeds, which come out
of a small opening at the bottom leading to a shelf.
As fast as the seeds are used, others fall down to
take their place. When once filled this may last
several weeks.

The Audubon food-house. A modification of the
Von Berlepsch food-house has been made by Mr.
Frederic H. Kennard in this country and has been
widely and successfully used. This consists of a post
from five to six feet above ground and three feet in
the ground. A rustic appearance is given by using
a stout post with the bark on, such as red cedar.
The house consists of a square hip roof two feet,
ten inches over all, and supports beneath it four
glazed sashes, two feet long by ten and one half
inches high, and jointed at the corners. It is fast-
ened to the post by means of a wooden block two
inches thick, attached beneath the apex of the
roof, with a hole in the center, into which the top of
the post is driven and nailed. There are two food
shelves fastened about the post, an upper one,
twelve inches in diameter on a level with the bottom

256 BIRD FRIENDS

of the sash, anda lower tray, eight inches in diameter
placed about ten inches lower. This lower one is
used to attract the attention of the birds to the upper
one, where most of the food is kept. In the sashes are
fastened pieces of glass.

The advantages of this food-house are, first, that
the birds are protected from storms; second, that
they are protected from cats; and third, that the
glass allows one to watch the birds inside as well as
throwing light on the food.

Weathercock food-house. The weathercock food-
house consists of a box open on one side and so ar-
ranged on a pivot that it is easily turned by the wind
by means of long vanes projecting back. The front
may be made of glass. Whichever way the wind blows,
the house turns so that the open side is away from
the wind. Sometimes the ends are made of glass also.
This enables one to see the birds feeding there. This
house has been tried by the Meriden Bird Club and
found to work satisfactorily.

Window box. The window box was suggested by
Mr. William Dutcher and was worked out by Mr.
Baynes at Meriden. This consists of a frame that fits
under the open window and projects into the room,
the top, sides, and back being of glass. At the top
is a hinged door through which food may be passed.
Mr. Baynes reports this as being very successful.

Moving counter. One of the most satisfactory
plans which the author has tried is a shelf moving

FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS 257

on a wire. The details of this have been worked
out very ingeniously by Edward Uehling, who, at
the time this work was done, was a boy in the eighth
grade of school. The author was closely associated
with him in this work and tried a similar device at
his own home. Some of the most successful results
of which the author has known followed from this
plan as worked out by his friend during the winter
of 1906 and 1907. A wire was put up, sloping from
a second-story window to a tree about forty feet dis-
tant. On this wire the lunch counter was sus-
pended by means of two pulleys set in a frame. To
this frame a string was attached and run to the win-
dow. The slope of the wire carried the counter to-
ward the tree, so that it could be kept in any desired
position along the wire. On this were placed suet,
nuts, sunflower seeds, and other foods. At first this
was allowed to remain out at full length of the wire,
touching the tree. Tree-climbing birds soon found
this and came regularly to feed upon it. After the
birds had become accustomed to coming to the
counter in this position, it was drawn up a little
nearer each day, till at the end of a month it had
been pulled to the window. Those birds which at
first came to it continued to do so even when it was
brought up near enough to touch the window. The
following winter a roof was placed over the trough,
which partially prevented the food from being cov-
ered by snow during storms.

258 BIRD FRIENDS

On one cold day when the snow was deep, the
author and Mr. Uehling watched the birds from
within the window from 6 a. M. to 5 p.M. The first
birds came at 6.42 and the last at 4.23. Eight
species of birds visited the counter, including the
chickadee, the junco, the white-breasted nuthatch,
the blue jay, the hermit thrush, the downy wood-
pecker, the English sparrow, and the brown creeper
(arranged inthe order of the number of visits made).
A total number of two hundred and two visits were
made, or an average of twenty per hour. All the
birds at some time during the day, except the spar-
row and the creeper, came to the window shelf or the
moving counter. The downy and the creeper ate only
suet, and the junco and the sparrow only bread
crumbs.

Difficulties. The same two difficulties confront us
here as in providing nesting-houses — the cat and
the English sparrow. The birds may be easily
protected from cats by wrapping a piece of tin or
zinc around the tree below the food; by putting the
window shelf at a second-story window; or by sus-
pending the counter from a wire as explained on
page 257.

English sparrows. The sparrow problem, how-
ever, is not so easily solved. In one way the diffi-
culty is not so acute as with the nesting-houses,
where two birds cannot occupy the same apartment;
for it is possible to furnish food both for the spar-

SHELTER FOR BIRDS’ FOOD

Fifteen birds feeding, — song sparrows, tree sparrows, juncos

WINDOW AND MOVING

FOOD-SHELVES

FEEDING THE WINTER BIRDS 259

rows and other birds; but as a matter of fact experi-
ence shows that where the sparrows congregate in
large flocks, as is their custom, the other birds keep
away. The author’s experience suggests that a mov-
ing counter tends to keep the sparrows away, as they
will not visit it so frequently as the stationary shelf,
and only when driven to it by lack of food else-
where; on the other hand, our native birds come to
it readily.

CHAPTER XXI
FOUNTAINS AND SHRUBS FOR THE BIRDS
Fountains

Essentials of fountains. Birds use water for two
purposes, for drinking and for bathing. In con-
structing a fountain which will be adapted to both
of these purposes, three essentials should be kept
in mind; first, the edge and bottom should be of
roughened material, so that the birds will not slip;
second, the water should be shallow, two and a half
to three inches is deep enough for most birds;
third, the bottom of the fountain should slope
gradually from the edge out to the center, so as to
give a gradual change in the depth of water.

Location. In deciding upon the location, the im-
portant matter to consider is protection from cats.
Birds fly with difficulty when their feathers are wet,
and thus are easily caught. Fountains may be
raised on pedestals as a protection from cats, or set
in the middle of a lawn with no bushes near behind
which cats may hide; or probably the best solution
is to look after the cats and place the fountain near
shrubbery where it will be partially shaded, and other
plants may be put around it for an ornamental set-
ting.

FOUNTAINS AND SHRUBS 261

Pans for fountains. Simple and effective bird-
baths may be made of almost any shallow recep-
tacle, such as large flower-pot saucers, pans of vari-
ous kinds, wash-boiler covers, etc. Sand and gravel
should be placed in these so as to give a range in
depth of water from a half-inch or less at the edge to
about three inches in the center; or shelving rocks
may be placed in the basin; these would render easier
the change of water, which should be renewed each
day, and would furnish a better standing-place for
the birds than the smooth edge of the pan. The
pan may be fastened in a crotch of a tree, or placed
on a post or window-sill, high enough to be out of
the reach of cats. It is preferable to place it where it
will be partially shaded to prevent the water from
becoming warm.

Concrete fountains on the lawn. One of the most
satisfactory types of fountain is one made of con-
crete sunk in the ground. To make this, a hole
about three feet across is dug out, gradually sloping
from the edge to a depth of five or six inches in the
middle. This is plastered over with a mixture of
Portland cement and sand, in the proportion of one
to four, thick enough to leave the center about three
inches deep and to slope gradually from there to the
edge. If the water leaks through too rapidly, another
thin coating may be placed over this, made by mix-
ing about equal parts of sand and cement.

This may be located near shrubbery where it will

262 BIRD FRIENDS

be partially shaded, and various plants, such as ferns,
may be grown around it. If one has no access to
running water, the fountains may be cleaned out
once or twice a week with a broom. This frequent
cleaning will prevent mosquitoes from breeding. If
one has a supply of running water, this can be let in
at one side and out at the other. The overflow can
be disposed of by digging a hole several feet deep
and filling with rocks, into which the drain-pipe can
be led. This may then be covered with turf.

‘Some members of the Meriden Bird Club use a
fountain made of zinc, which contains a succession of
five or six broad steps about one half-inch high and
seven inches wide, thus giving a range of from one
half to three inches in depth. This may also be made
with the bottom gradually sloping from one end to
the other.

Visitors at fountains. The number of birds that
visit a fountain during a season may be very large.
The number that will occupy bird-houses is com-
paratively small, limited by the natural nesting-
habits of the birds; the number that may be at-
tracted by winter feeding is larger, but still limited
to those birds which have the ability to withstand
cold weather; the number that may be attracted
by fountains is still larger, as there is the possibility
of enticing birds from the three great groups of
transient visitants, summer residents, and perma-
nent residents. One observer reports that sixty-

KR TISES

ae,

CONCRETE BIRD FOUNTAIN ON THE AUTHOR’S LAWN

FOUNTAINS AND SHRUBS 263

nine different species of birds — many rare warblers
and migrants among them — came in one season
to drink from a basin on a suburbanlawn. Another
observer reports seeing fifteen kinds of birds around
his fountain in one afternoon. Mr. E. H. Baynes
writes that twenty-two species of birds have visited
his fountain.

Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

Planting for the birds. For one who owns a farm,
or a place with fair-sized grounds, on which he ex-
pects to live for a number of years, perhaps no
greater returns in bird life will be given than from a
proper planting of trees, shrubs, and vines. A tree-
less and shrubless locality means a more or less bird-
less locality. These are essentials to furnish nesting-
sites and shelter for most of our common birds.
These plantings may serve a fivefold purpose — to
furnish shelter, nesting-sites, and food for the birds,
to protect cultivated fruit from the birds, and to
beautify the home grounds.

Planting for shelter. While all trees furnish some
shelter for the birds, the coniferous trees are espe-
cially valuable for this purpose on account of the re-
tention of their foliage during the cold months, which
furnishes some protection against the winter storms
and serves as a favorite roosting-place during the
long, cold nights. Windbreaks of any kind of trees
may also serve as a shelter. The smaller plants, too,

264 BIRD FRIENDS

such as tangles of shrubs and vines, furnish retreats
for many of the smaller birds when pursued by
hawks; and serve as a shelter for winter birds.

Planting for nesting-sites. While occasionally
some birds seem to show a preference for some par-
ticular kind of tree or shrub in which to place their
nests, usually it is a question of the general locality,
with its surroundings and the food and protection
given, which decides the bird in its selection of a
nesting-site. Hence those plants which will best
serve the purpose of food and shelter will also fur-
nish nesting-sites. A number of trees and tangles
of shrubbery, thickly overgrown with vines, furnish
the needed conditions for nesting-sites, provided
the other factors are favorable. If hedges are sub-
stituted for fences, they may furnish nesting-sites
and at the same time serve as a means of orna-
mentation.

Planting for food. In selecting plants the ques-
tion of food should receive first consideration. Some
of our birds feed quite largely on fruits in their
season, and a large number of them select fruits as
a small part, at least, of their diet.

The birds which feed to a considerable extent on
wild fruit are arranged in the following table in the
order of the percentage which this forms of their
whole food. These figures are taken from the re-
ports of the United States Bureau of Biological
Survey:—

FOUNTAINS AND SHRUBS 265

Per cent that wild | Number of kinds of
Name of bird fruit forms of total | fruit known to be
food eaten
Cedar-bird............... 4 20
Bob-white................ Av 20
ROD 5c scaseos'soetee eek eae 42 32
Catbird............0000ee 5 15
Ruffed grouse............. 28 23
Fox sparrow............4. 28 6
Yellow-bellied sapsucker... . 26 17
White-throated sparrow. ... 25 12
Cardinal.............0044 24 20
Hicker cs need oes esha eac 20 28
Rose-breasted grosbeak..... 19 12
Bluebird................. 18 23

A study of the last column shows the variety of
fruits eaten by the different birds.

In a government publication is given the follow-
ing list of fruits and the number of birds that feed
on this fruit as determined by the studies made by
the Bureau of Biological Survey : —

Number Number
Fruit of birds Fruit of birds
eating eating

Elder aj(tsteeccgasigs es 67 Virginia creeper berries.... 25
Raspberries
Blackberries Bayberries' «3 6000280
Mulberries.............6 Juniper berries
Dogwood June-berries......
SUMae.-3544...0éesaassate® Holly berries........ 62
Wild cherries Strawberries.............
Blueberries.............. Viburnum...............
Wild grapes Hackberries.............
Pokeberries.............. Huckleberries............

Succession of fruits. The accompanying table, on
page 266, is taken from a publication of the Bureau

266 BIRD FRIENDS

TABLE OF FRUITING-PERIODS

| Mar
Apr
May

ens

| Deo,

Tartarian honey
Black alder.....-.+---2--++

Frost grape.----
Huckleberry......

FOUNTAINS AND SHRUBS 267

of Biological Survey, with a few omissions and a
change in the order. These plants are arranged in
the order in which the fruit begins to ripen, so that
from a study of this table one may select shrubs
which will furnish the birds with a succession of
food from spring through summer and fall, and even
through winter, as the fruit of several shrubs re-
mains during most of the winter season. The period
of the fruiting-season is taken from the earliest and
latest dates recorded for New York and New Eng-
land, so that an individual plant would not remain
in fruit during all of this period.

Mr. Frederic H. Kennard, in Baynes’s “Our Wild
Bird Guests,” suggests the following species as
among the best for providing birds with a con-
tinuous supply of food throughout the year: —

Trees Shrubs Vines
White mulberry Shad-bush
Red mulberry Blue cornel
Summer Bird cherry (Prunus Tartarian honey-
pennsylvanica) suckle
Red-berried elder
Flowering dogwood Silky cornel Frost grape
White thorn Gray cornel
Autumn Bird cherry (Prunus Arrowwood
serotina) Withe-rod
Common elder
Gray birch Barberry Virginia creeper
Cockspur thorn Black alder Summer grape
: European mountain- Common privet
Wines ash Buckthorn
Siberian crab-apple Sheep-berry

Black haw

268 BIRD FRIENDS

Trees Shrubs Vines
Washington thorn Japanese barberry False bittersweet
American larch Non-poisonous Boston ivy
European larch sumac
Spring < Flowering crab-apple Highbush cran-
berry
Wild rose
Rosa multiflora

Most desirable fruits. It is a matter of quite
common observation that, on the whole, the best
single tree to plant is the mulberry. It begins to
bear early and its fruiting season is well prolonged.
Other especially attractive fruits are the June-
berry, elderberry, and wild cherries. A study of the
table on page 265 will suggest others of the most
desirable plants.

Herbaceous plants. There are also some herba-
ceous plants which can be grown to attract birds.
A row of sunflowers at the back of the garden is
often visited by goldfinches or others of the finch
family. Goldfinches also eat the seeds of the blue
cornflower. The hummingbird is attracted by bright
flowers with deep tubes. Either red or orange flowers
are preferred. Some of its favorite flowers among
wild plants are coral honeysuckle, painted-cup,
columbine, jewel-weed, Oswego-tea, and cardinal-
flower; and among cultivated flowers, columbine,
scarlet salvia, bee-balm, nasturtium, and gladiolus.

Planting for ornamentation. The plants which
are set out to attract the birds may also serve the

FOUNTAINS AND SHRUBS 269

purpose of ornamentation. Among our vines the
Virginia creeper, which is a favorite among the birds,
is very attractive because of its decorative effect.
Shrubs may be chosen which hold their berries dur-
ing the winter, thus furnishing the birds with food
when it is especially welcome, and also adding greatly
to the winter landscape by their bright and attrac-
tive colors. Some of the shrubs which carry their
fruit through a part or the whole of the winter are
holly, bayberry, mountain-ash, black alder, green-
brier, red cedar, sumac, hackberry, bittersweet,
and burning bush.

Reference has already been made in Chapter X
to the planting of shrubs and trees to protect cul-
tivated fruit.

Calendar for attracting birds
March-April.

Continue to keep out food as suggested for October—Feb-
ruary.

Put out nesting-houses.

Clean out the old nesting-houses.

Put a little sawdust in boxes intended for woodpeckers.

Set out shrubs to attract birds.

May.

Plant seeds of sunflower and gourds.

Below the nesting-houses that are occupied fasten around
the tree or post a sheet of tin or zinc about eighteen inches
wide, to protect the houses from cats.

Put out yarn, string, cotton batting, and other nesting-
material.

June.
Put out fountains for drinking and bathing.
Keep cats shut up.

270 _BIRD FRIENDS

July-September.

Keep fountain clean and filled with fresh water.
October—February.

Begin early to put out food, suet, grains, etc.

After storms, trample down the snow and throw out grains.

Examine feeding-shelves and hoppers after storms and keep

them constantly supplied with food.
Keep suet-baskets full.
Put out nesting-boxes for shelter.

CHAPTER XXII
DOMESTICATION OF WILD BIRDS

Success achieved. Considerable progress has
been made in recent years in the domestication of
wild birds. Many experiments have been tried with
a great variety of birds with varying degrees of suc-
cess, but some have been so fully successful that
several species of wild birds may be considered
partially domesticated.

These experiments have been tried with two
classes of birds, the water-fowl and the so-called
gallinaceous birds, or land game-birds. Among the
first group the birds which have been successfully
reared in captivity are ducks, geese, and swans.
Among the gallinaceous birds, the bob-whites and
several other quail, the ruffed grouse, the prairie
hen, the wild turkey, and pheasants have been suc-
cessfully reared.

The greatest success has been achieved in rear-
ing the mallard duck. Some strains have become
thoroughly domesticated like barnyard fowl. Other
ducks which have been successfully reared are the
wood duck, pintail, redhead, gadwall, widgeon,
shoveler, green-winged and blue-winged teals, black
duck, canvasback, and lesser scaup. The Canada
goose has also been successfully reared.

272 BIRD FRIENDS

The rearing of wild birds has now become quite
an industry. In a recent issue of a paper devoted
to outdoor life were advertisements of four firms
offering for sale wild birds which had been reared
in captivity. Many people are raising bob-whites,
pheasants, and ducks.

Nine States have game farms on which various
species of wild birds are reared.

The artificial rearing of birds settles the question
of the preservation of any species of bird, for as
soon as a bird is reared artificially the danger of its
extermination is past. The wood duck was form-
erly classed as a “vanishing game-bird,” but now it
is being raised artificially by the thousands and
in some localities is becoming common.

A book treating of the domestication of wild birds
has recently appeared, entitled ‘“The Propagation
of Wild Birds,” by Herbert K. Job. So far as the
author knows, this is the first manual of its kind to
be published in this country. Those who are inter-
ested in the exact methods by which the various
species of birds are reared will find full directions in
this book. Mr. Job has also prepared two bulletins on
the subject, one on “Propagation of Upland Game
Birds,” and another on “‘Propagation of Wild Water
Fowl.” These are sold for twenty-five cents each by
the National Association of Audubon Societies.

Methods of rearing wild birds. In some ways the
general methods used in rearing all wild birds are

DOMESTICATION OF WILD BIRDS = 273

similar. Two general methods are in use, the arti-
ficial method and the natural method. In the arti-
ficial method the birds are kept confined and the
young reared in much the same way as poultry.
In the natural method the birds are allowed to breed
in their natural way, but are protected and helped
in every way possible. Each of these methods has its
advantages and they may be combined.

Rearing the bob-white. Among the gallinaceous
birds the greatest success has been achieved with
the bob-white. The Massachusetts Commission on
Fisheries and Game raised several hundred in 1914.
Mr. A. C. MacVicar, of New Jersey, has raised one
hundred and fifty in a season, the Connecticut State
Farm at Madison about two hundred, Mr. Harry
T. Rogers, of New York, four hundred, and the New
Jersey Commission about five hundred. There are
a number of men who raise large numbers with as
much certainty as one raises poultry.

The following résumé is given in Mr. Job’s
“Propagation of Wild Birds” : —

Résumé of plan. Following is a résumé of the general
plan, based upon my own experience and observation,
which I suggest for the handling of quail on an estate,
farm, or preserve: —

1. Secure breeding-stock in late fall or early winter
either by purchase or by capture of a small stock by
permission of the authorities.

2. Keep through the winter in a wire enclosure with
simple shelter from storms and cold winds.

QT BIRD FRIENDS

3. In April, separate the pairs, having each pair in a
small pen by itself. Some can remain in the larger pen
together, if there are not enough small pens.

4. Hatch out the eggs and raise the young with ban-
tams. Do not attempt incubators and brooders.

5. Put the breeders back into the large pen together
by the latter part of July, unless they wish to incubate.

6. In late fall or early winter, catch up what young are
desired. The rest can be left wild to breed naturally, next
summer. Feed regularly under shelters throughout the
winter, to hold them on the land, as also by planted
areas of grain left standing for them. In severe winter
weather coveys might be shut up and cared for, and let
go again.

Pheasants. Pheasants are very widely reared in
large numbers. The game farm of West Virginia
has distributed two hundred pheasants, the Iowa
farm seven hundred, the California farm four thou-
sand, the New Jersey farm forty-four hundred, the
Connecticut farm six thousand, and the New York
farm ten thousand. Mr. Donald MacVicar hatches
annually about four thousand.

Ruffed grouse. Dr. Clifton Hedge was the first
man successfully to rear ruffed grouse. Mr. Her-
bert K. Job has conducted a number of successful
experiments with them. Mr. Rogers raised seventy-
five young grouse in one season. The American
Game Protective and Propagation Association has
raised them for three successive generations on its
game farm at South Carver, Massachusetts.

Wild turkeys. Wild turkeys have been success-

DOMESTICATION OF WILD BIRDS = 275

fully reared on the preserve of the Woodmount
Rod and Gun Club in Maryland. One season two
hundred young turkeys were reared.

Canada goose. The Canada goose is easily reared
in captivity, and is readily tamed, even more readily
than ducks. Mr. J. W. Wheaton, on Chincoteague
Island, Virginia, has raised Canada geese for more
than fifty years. In 1909 he had about four hundred
and fifty birds. About seventy-five pairs breed and
he raises annually from two hundred to three hun-
dred young birds. Some of these pairs are over fifty
years of age and have come back spring after spring
to nest for nearly half a century.

Ducks. Wild ducks are now being raised in large
numbers. On the Walcott game preserve at Norfolk,
Connecticut, from fifteen hundred to two thou-
sand mallards are raised each season for the mar-
ket. The Game Breeders’ Association, of Sparrow-
bush, New York, during the season of 1913 gathered
four thousand eggs from one hundred and seventy
mallard ducks and hatched twenty-five hundred
ducklings. The Clove Valley Rod and Gun Club,
of Dutchess County, New York, during 1913 reared
and marketed about four thousand mallards. Dur-
ing the season of 1914 Mr. Wallace Evans raised
more than six thousand young wood ducks.

Wild ducks are easily reared. The outfit is simple
and inexpensive, consisting of a pond or brook, an
open shed, and a wire fence. The food is easily pro-

276 BIRD FRIENDS

vided, and as the birds are hardy, they are easily
kept in good health. It is easy also to rear the
young. And it is even possible to rear them in a city
back yard, if one has a cement basin and shrubbery.
Mr. F. Manross has a pair of wood ducks which rear
their young each year in a small artificial pond under
the windows of his factory in Forestville, Connecti-
cut. The water is kept open during the winter by
a steam pipe and the birds remain here during the
whole year. In another part of his yard he is rearing
Canada geese, which were originally wild.

As another example of what may be done in a city
back yard may be mentioned the case of Dr. A. F.
Warren, of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. For
several years he has kept several green-winged teals
in his small yard, where he has made a cement basin
and set out shrubbery.

Attracting wild ducks. In localities where ducks
are found, much can be done to attract them with-
out artificial breeding. Brooks may be dammed so
as to make ponds and marshes. A few captive ducks
kept on ponds may serve to attract wild ducks,
which may remain and breed. Mallard ducks reared
in captivity make good decoys and have been used
successfully in attracting wild ducks into ponds,
even when situated in city parks.

Food is another means of enticing ducks to remain.
Such grains as corn, wheat, or rice may be scattered
in shallow water, and ponds may be rendered still

DOMESTICATION OF WILD BIRDS == 277

more atiractive to ducks by planting water-plants
that are used by them as food. The most important
of these are wild celery, wild rice, and pondweeds.
A study of the stomach-contents of a number of in-
dividuals of sixteen species of ducks showed that
these three plants composed one quarter of the food
of these birds, divided as follows: pondweeds, four-
teen per cent; wild celery, six per cent; and wild
rice, five per cent. Every part of the plant of wild
rice is eaten — stem, leaves, flowers, and seeds. The
seeds may be obtained of several reliable dealers, and
should be sown broadcast in the shallow water
around the edge of the pond. Wild celery may be
propagated in a similar way by seeds, and also by
winter buds, and by pieces of the plant with a bit
of rootstock attached.

Nineteen plants that serve as food for wild ducks
are given in a bulletin published by the United
States Bureau of Biological Survey. Among them,
besides the three mentioned above, are: wapato,
wild millet, musk grasses, duckweed, frogbit, water
elm, marine eel-grass, water cress, and coontail.

Heronry. Mr. McIlhenny, of Louisiana, has been
successful in starting a heronry near his home. He
first secured some young herons from nests and
reared them by hand. These went away during the
winter, but returned in the spring and nested near
his house. Other herons joined them, and there is
now a large colony, containing thousands of herons

278 BIRD FRIENDS

of various kinds. Mr. Herbert K. Job, who recently
visited this heronry, writes: —

Several days were spent at Avery Island, Louisiana,
where I was most kindly entertained by Mr. E. A. Me-
Tlhenny, whose astounding -colony, artificially built up,
of forty thousand snowy egrets, herons, and other water
birds, attracted to his overflowed garden, might well be
considered “the eighth wonder of the world.”

CHAPTER XXIII
TEACHING BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS

Purposes of bird-study. In the schools it is im-
portant that the teacher should have clearly in
mind the purposes of bird-study so that these may
serve as a guide in her teaching. The chief purposes
of bird-study in the schools may be briefly stated
as follows: first, to give the children greater plea-
sure in living through an acquaintance with the
birds; second, to teach them the economic value of
birds; third, to teach them to protect and to aid
the birds.

Materials for bird-study. One of the features of
nature-study that gives it special value is the fact
that it deals with things at first hand, and the child
is learning from a direct study of the thing itself
instead of by reading about it. Hence it is im-
portant that there should be provided materials
for the child to study. The best and final thing is
for the child to study the living bird outdoors. For
the schoolroom lessons some material is needed to
create an interest which shall lead the child to this
outdoor study. In most schools mounted birds can-
not be obtained, and it is questionable whether these
would be desirable, especially for young children.

280 BIRD FRIENDS

As an introduction to bird-study sometimes it may
be possible to keep a pet canary in the schoolroom
for a few days.

Pictures. There is a substitute for mounted birds
that can be used, which serves the purpose excep-
tionally well, namely, colored pictures. Very good
pictures can now be obtained from the following
sources : —

National Association of Audubon Societies, 1974
Broadway, New York City. About ninety pictures
have been published, to which six are being added
each year. The price is two cents apiece, including,
besides the picture, an outline drawing and a four-
page pamphlet descriptive of the bird’s habits.

G. P. Browne Company, Beverly, Massachusetts.
About three hundred and fifty pictures have been
published. The price is two cents each. These may
be obtained on light-weight mounts for four cents
each.

Liberty Bell Bird Club, “Farm Journal,’’ Phila-
delphia. Twenty pictures have been published and
are sold at two cents each.

Massachusetts Audubon Society, 66 Newbury
Street, Boston. This Society sells pictures mounted
as charts. There are three charts known as the
Audubon Bird Charts, twenty-seven by forty-two
inches, arranged so that they can be hung in the
schoolroom. Charts numbers 1 and 2 each contain
twenty-six common birds, and Chart number 38,

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 281

twenty winter birds. The price of each chart is
$1.50.

Handwork. For young children it is important
that a large amount of handwork should be pro-
vided, as children acquire knowledge faster by this
means. Colored pictures furnish material for this
kind of work. The children are given uncolored
outlines and, with the colored pictures before them,
color in the outline, using either colored crayons or
water-colors. The outlines may be obtained in three
ways: First, they may be bought. The National
Association of Audubon Societies sells an outline with
each picture, but does not sell the outlines sepa-
rately. Separate outlines of thirty common birds
may be bought for one cent each of the Comstock
Publishing Company, Ithaca, New York. Second,
the teacher, by means of a mimeograph or other
device, may make enough outlines to supply the
class. Third, the children may make the outlines
themselves. The older children may make free-hand
drawings of the outline from the picture.

The younger children may trace the outlines.
For this purpose two grades of paper are needed, the
ordinary drawing-paper on which the final outline
is to be colored, and some paper thin enough for
tracing: thin typewriting paper will do. The thin
paper is held over the picture and the outline of
the bird traced. When this is finished, it is turned
over and placed on the ordinary drawing-paper with

282 BIRD FRIENDS

the outline next to it. The child takes his pencil and
marks back and forth a number of times across the
paper just over the outline already drawn. This
causes enough of the pencil mark to be rubbed off to
reproduce the outline on the second paper. The
child may go over this outline with a pencil to make
it clear, and then color it.

Free-hand outlines of birds may be cut from
paper or cardboard and then colored on both sides
with crayons. These may be suspended by means
of thread to represent flying birds. Outlines may
also be cut from thin pieces of board with a knife or
fret saw, and then the two sides painted. These may
be fastened to sticks to make flower-sticks to put in
flower-pots.

The purpose of this work is to enable the children
to identify the birds in the field more easily, be-
cause they have noted the colors and their location,
and they should be encouraged to look for these
birds. If this handwork stops in the schoolroom
without leading to the study of birds outdoors, it
may be questioned whether it is worth while.

Bird games. The game element may profitably
be introduced into bird-study, especially with young
children. Following are some games which the au-
thor has seen used that help the child in describing
and identifying the birds: —

Games with colored pictures. Game number 1.
The teacher shows the pictures one at a time to the

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 283

children, keeping the name covered. The child who
first correctly names the bird takes the picture. The
child who has the most pictures at the end of the
game wins.

Game number 2. This may be used with older
children. A large number of pictures are hung
around the room and numbered, the names being
covered. Each child writes the list of numbers on
a piece of paper and opposite the number the name
of the bird. The child who names the most wins.

Game number 3. The teacher pins the picture of
some bird on a child’s back and shows the picture
to the class. The child stands before the class and
asks questions of any cone he wishes about the bird,
till he guesses it correctly. He then names some one
else to take his place.

Games without pictures. Game number 4. A
child stands before the class and describes some
bird which he has in mind. The children try to
guess the bird from the description. The child who
first guesses it correctly then begins the description
of another bird.

Game number 5. This is a slight modification of the
previous game. A child stands before the class and
has some particular bird in mind. The children take
turns in asking questions about the bird, its color,
size, etc., till some one guesses the bird. This child
then takes his turn in answering questions about
some other bird.

284 BIRD FRIENDS

Dramatization. Children enjoy dramatization
and learn much thereby. Some simple bird play
could be easily arranged and the parts taken by the
children. The Liberty Bell Bird Club has arranged
three plays: “The Workers,” “The Birds’ Return,”
and “The Birds’ House-Hunting,” which may be
obtained of the “‘ Farm Journal,” Philadelphia, for
three two-cent stamps each. Probably Percy Mac-
Kaye’s “Sanctuary ” could be adapted for grammar
grades.

Bird calendar. A spring bird calendar is a source
of never-failing interest, beginning even with the
very youngest children and extending up through
the grades. A calendar may best be kept on a large
piece of heavy paper or cardboard. At the top
should be some artistic decoration appropriate to
the subject. For the young children the reports may
be arranged in four columns: —

Name of child

Name of bird jirst reporting

Date first seen Where seen

For the older children the following columns may
be added: —

Date when abundant Date when nesting Remarks

The competitive element suggested in having the
child’s name appear on the calendar stimulates the
children and arouses much interest. Several pre-

MAR IbIL eae
MAR27MILDRED| NEAR HOME.

APAISISUMNER| NEAR HOME
APRI5|TAMES | NEAR HOME

JAPRI7MERCEDES| NEAR HOME.

GROSBEAKIA PR.SO|MILDRED | NEAR SWAMP
EEO PR.3OJCHARLES! IN FIELD

FAMAY | [FRED | NEARHOME

SCHOOL BIRD CALENDAR
Kept by a third grade

FEEDING-STATION FOR BIRDS IN YARD OF TRAINING-SCHOOL
MANKATO STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MINNESOTA

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 285

cautions will need to be observed by the teacher.
Children will often report very positively the appear-
ance of a bird a month before it is due to arrive. If
the teacher has access to a local calendar kept by
some bird-student, it will help her in knowing when
to expect certain birds. The migration dates for
several localities in the eastern United States are
given in Chapman’s “Handbook of Birds.” If the
children report birds several weeks ahead of the
dates given on some reliable migration record, prob-
ably they have made a mistake and they should
be told so by the teacher.

After it is probable that the bird has arrived, it
must be understood by the class that no bird’s name
is to go down on the calendar till the child has given
such a good description of the bird that there is no
doubt about its being seen. In case of doubt the
name should not be put down.

One important line of work is to take up in turn
in the various grades different species of birds so as
to acquaint the child each year with a few new birds.
For the younger children the most common and
conspicuous birds should be studied, with emphasis
placed on identification. In later grades other birds
may be taken up and adaptations and economic value
studied in addition to identification. The colored
plates may be used to show the colors and their
location as an aid to naming the birds when seen
outdoors.

286 BIRD FRIENDS

The children should be encouraged to look for
the birds, and some questions may be written on the
board that they may answer from a study of the
bird. The children should be asked to report to the
class the results of their observations, and frequent
opportunities should be given for these reports. At
first not all the children will make these studies and
reports, but if the teacher encourages and expects
this and gives opportunities for reports, the number
of children who do this can be gradually increased.

As a means for reviewing and summarizing the
birds from the standpoint of identification, the
tables given later on pages 312 and 313 may be used.

The child’s activities. One of the most effective
phases of nature-study is that which calls into play
the manual activities of the child in providing op-
portunities himself for making a study of the life
around him. This principle of utilizing the child’s
activities is one that is well understood and applied
in the kindergarten, but too little employed in later
years. It will prove a most effective instrument to be
used with the children when circumstances allow.
Bird-study is specially well adapted to making use
of these activities in building nesting-houses, in
feeding the winter birds, and in providing fountains.
The very fact that the child is doing something
for the birds is a means of developing that helpful
sympathy with nature which may prove such an
important factor in all his subsequent life. And,

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 287

furthermore, an excellent opportunity is offered for
watching the birds that may come in response to
the attractions offered. These observations will be
carried on with much greater ardor and thorough-
ness because the child has himself helped to furnish
the conditions which make his observations possible.
Nesting-houses. Perhaps there is no one line of
work that interests the children so much as the
making of bird-houses, especially in the primary and
intermediate grades. Even very young children are
interested, and when they are too small to make the
houses themselves, some one of the family at home
may help them. The houses can be built at home
or in the manual-training department. Children
may be asked to bring materials, and then some
one may help them in the manual-training shops.
Many children may be interested to the point where
they will make houses at home. As an added in-
centive the children may be asked to bring their
houses to school on a certain day, so that a picture
of the children with their houses may be taken.
The matter may be brought to the attention of
the children in the early spring. The subject may be
introduced by a general discussion of the nesting-
habits of those birds that nest in hollow trees or other
cavities. The children should be asked to search
the neighborhood to ascertain to what extent these
natural nesting-sites may be found. In many locali-
ties these have been entirely cleared away in the

288 BIRD FRIENDS

development of the land for real-estate purposes,
and hence there may be emphasized the necessity
of building nesting-houses if we would keep these
birds around our homes. The problems which arise
in connection with the construction and location of
bird-houses should be talked over with the children
and the important precautions to be observed ex-
plained to them. The really éssential features hav-
ing been made clear, the children should be allowed
to use their ingenuity and individuality about ar-
ranging details.

Difficulties. The children should understand the
difficulties to be met, so as to avoid undue disap-
pointment, and should be prepared to overcome
them as far as possible. The greatest obstacle of all
is the English sparrow. Some devices which may as-
sist in keeping this bird away have been discussed
in Chapter XIX, the most effective one of which is
to make the hole so small that the sparrows cannot
enter, but large enough for the wren and chickadee.
With houses for bluebirds and tree swallows, prob-
ably the most effective thing which the children can
do is to make the houses so that the tops can be
easily lifted, and then to remove the sparrows’ eggs
once a week or as fast as they are laid. This often
causes the sparrows to leave the nesting-house. If
nothing else can be done the entrance can be cov-
ered or the house taken down, as soon as it is evi-
dent that no other bird is going to use the house,

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 289

thus preventing the sparrows from rearing their
young. Of course killing the sparrow cannot be
recommended to the children. Whatever is done
along this line must be left to adults.

If the school-building is favorably situated,
houses may be put up in the school-yard. If these
are occupied, opportunity will be given the school
for bird-study at close range. The children may be
sufficiently interested to raise money for a martin-
house to be erected in the school-yard, as was done
by the children in the Training-School of the Man-
kato State Normal School, Minnesota.

It would be well worth while to see if the park
boards would not codperate with the schools, so
that the children might make bird-houses and
place them in the parks. Such a plan was carried
out in Jackson and Washington Parks, Chicago,
the children making several hundred wren- and
bluebird-houses. During one season the children of
Portland, Oregon, built eight thousand bird-houses
and placed them in the various parks and about
different sections of the city. Most of them were
built by the pupils of the manual-training depart-
ments of the different schools. In many localities
prizes have been offered for the best bird-houses.
As a result thousands of bird-houses have been
built by children. These houses are often kept on
exhibition for awhile, and many of them are then
sold by the children to the people of the community.

290 BIRD FRIENDS

Feeding the winter birds. The introductory work
to feeding the winter birds should be done in the
late fall. A talk on the food of birds may be
given, so as to bring out the two classes of foods,
animal and vegetable. The kinds of food to put
out and the methods of putting it out may be dis-
cussed. The necessity of providing a constant supply
of food should be emphasized, and also of seeing that
there is a good supply immediately after a snow-
storm. The children may occasionally be reminded
of the feeding so that they will not neglect it too
long. The possibility of taming the birds to feed
from the hand should be brought to the children’s
attention. The construction of winter-feeding de-
vices, as suggested in Chapter XX, may be made
a part of the manual-training work.

And while the children are being encouraged to
feed the birds at home, a lunch-counter may be
provided in the school-yard if the conditions will
allow it. Committees may be appointed among the
children to see that the counter is provided with

food.

’ While the two methods of attracting birds al-
ready mentioned are the ones best adapted for school
use, something may also be done in the line of en-
couraging the children to provide fountains. The
planting of shrubs requires so long before the re-
turns come in that this method of attracting birds
will not appeal to children, but they may be en-

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 291

couraged to plant seeds of annuals, such as hemp,
millet, and sunflower. In Carrick, Pennsylvania,
a public-spirited man has been giving small mul-
berry and cherry trees to those children who would
agree to plant them and take care of them. Previous
to 1912, fifteen hundred trees had been given to
the children.

Bird fountain in a school-yard. In some cases
it may be practicable to construct a bird fountain
in the school-yard. Such a fountain was built in
a yard in Worcester, Massachusetts. Connections
were made so that running water dripped into the
basin and a drain carried off the surplus water. Wild
flowers were planted in the crevices of the fountain
and at its base, and clumps of shrubbery were planted
near so that their fruit might furnish food for the
birds. The first year the fountain was visited by
twenty-five species of birds. Another similar foun-
tain was built at Passaic, New Jersey.

Field trips. There is but one way to know the
birds; that is, to study them in the field. In the
schoolroom the children may be prepared for field
studies and may learn about the value of the birds
and how to protect them, but without a knowledge
of the birds themselves enthusiasm will be lacking.

The ordinary class of thirty to forty children is too
large to attempt a field trip as a body, but fre-
quently some arrangement may be made with the
principal by which half of the class may be taken

292 BIRD FRIENDS

at one time. Sometimes walks may be taken with
a few children who are especially interested.

Both teacher and children should start out with
a very definite purpose in mind. The teacher should
prepare and plan for the trip very carefully. One
purpose may be to see how many kinds of birds
can be identified and to make a list of them. Another
purpose may be to make a special study of one or
two kinds of birds, noting the size, general colors,
song, nesting-habits, and methods of locomotion.

Whether field trips with the children are taken or
not, the teacher should constantly encourage the
children, when by themselves as they pass to and
from school and when at home, to study the birds
and report their observations to the class. One of
the chief purposes of the field trips taken by the
teacher with the children is to stimulate them to
observe birds when by themselves.

Bird clubs. Much enthusiasm can be aroused by
the organization of bird clubs. A local bird club
can be formed anywhere, but more interest will be
aroused if this is formed in connection with some
large organization. There are at least two ways in
which this may be done. One is through the Na-
tional Association of Audubon Societies, as explained
in Chapter XVI. Each child who wishes to join pays
ten cents. The names are sent by the teacher to
New York City to the Association, and each child
receives in return ten colored bird pictures and an

JUNIOR AUDUBON CLASS AT TRAINING-SCHOOL
MANKATO, MINN.

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 293

Audubon button, which has on it a picture of the
robin and the words “Audubon Society”; and if
there are ten or more members, the teacher receives
“Bird-Lore” for one year.

Another means is through the Liberty Bell Bird
Club of the “Farm Journal,” Philadelphia, to which
reference has been made in Chapter XX. The
pledge there printed is written at the top of a sheet
of paper and the children who wish to join write
their names under this pledge. This list is sent to
the ‘Farm Journal” at Philadelphia, and each child
in return receives a little pamphlet, entitled “Guide
of the Liberty Bell Bird Club”; and also a bird
button, which has on it a picture of a swallow and
of the Liberty Bell, and printed across it the motto
“Protect Our Feathered Friends” and around the
circumference the name “The Liberty Bell Bird
Club.”

The advantage of the first club is that each child
receives pictures which may be used in connection
with the meetings of the club. The advantage of the
second club is that no money is required. The
teacher can select whichever seems best suited to the
locality where she is teaching. Except with the very
young children, it is well to elect officers and to allow
the children to assume the chief responsibility for the
work of the club under the supervision of the teacher.

There is a great variety of things that may be
done at the meetings of the club. If the colored

294 BIRD FRIENDS

plates are used, the children may color some of the
outlines. Any one of these birds may be taken as
the topic of the meeting, and the pamphlet and other
references studied in preparation, different children
being assigned topics to look up. About a week be-
fore the meeting, the bird to be studied should be an-
nounced, so that the children may be watching the
birds outdoors and report what they have seen. A
meeting may be held to discuss the making of bird-
houses, and at another meeting these may be brought
together and compared. A number of field trips
should be taken to study the birds outdoors. All of
the above can best be done in the spring. In the
fall nests may be collected and studied. In the winter
the subject of winter feeding may be taken up.

From a number of letters published in “Bird-
Lore” explaining about the work of the clubs, the
following list is taken of the things which were
done by the various clubs: —

Prizes offered for the following: —

Best bird-houses.
Greatest number of bird-houses for different birds.

Longest list of birds identified from pictures.

Best bird records.

Best composition showing intimate knowledge of
birds.

Best colored drawing of some bird.

Prize to the school or room having the largest
number of clippings in their bird-clipping book.

Making bird-houses, feeding devices, and fountains for
the home yard.

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 295

Building bird-houses to put up in school-yard.

Exhibition of bird-houses open to the public.

Members of clubs give talks to children in other build-
ings.

Talks given to club by various members about some
birds shown by the radiopticon.

Demonstration of tying suet to branches of trees.

Debates on such questions as, “Should the crow be
protected?”

Providing Christmas tree for the birds.

Field trips.

Publication of a paper containing articles about birds.

Playing bird games.

Spring migration records of birds kept by club.

Attending illustrated lecture given by some one who
has lantern slides.

The following are the suggestions for meetings as
given in the “Guide of the Liberty Bell Bird Club”:

First: Repeat in concert the pledge of the Liberty Bell
Bird Club.

Second: Members report all the different varieties of
birds seen since the last meeting. This report to be writ-
ten, read, and given to the teacher or director and to be
filed.

Third: Recitation or reading — a bird poem or a bird
story. Many good ones appear from time to time in the
“Farm Journal’s” Bird Club column and elsewhere in
the paper.

Fourth: Members report what they have observed and
all special bird work done by them.

Fifth: Composition on one of the articles in the Bird
Club page of the “Farm Journal.” Subject to be given
by the teacher or director.

Sixth: Question box.

296 BIRD FRIENDS

Seventh: Work outlined by teacher or director for the
following week.
Eighth: Adjournment.

In many cases enough interest is aroused so that
the members of the club meet during the summer
vacation at the homes of the members.

Bird Day. Bird Day is observed often in connec-
tion with Arbor Day. Bird Day is now officially
recognized in nine States. In observing this day
one special feature to be emphasized is doing some-
thing for the birds, such as putting up houses at
home or in the school-yard. The program should
not be so formal as to obliterate this important fea-
ture. The following are suggestions for a few gen-
eral lines of work that may be carried on: —

. Reading of proclamation.

. Talk by some one outside of the schools.

. Talk by teacher.

. Original essays by children.

. Reports on outdoor observations.

Recitations and readings.

Dramatic presentation.

Songs.

. Putting up bird-houses and planting shrubs in school-
yard to attract birds.

Arbor and Bird Day Annuals are published in
some States, which give many helpful suggestions.

Correlation with other subjects. Bird-study may
do much to add to other lines of school work and
may also itself be made more interesting by proper

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 297

correlation. Many opportunities present them-
selves in connection with several subjects, especially
with art and literature.

The following chart suggests briefly something of
what may be done along this line: —

Manual
training

Literature) Art Language ee Civies

Read lit-|Color {Make nest-| Reports [Migra- | Bird {Problems

erature | outlines} ing- onout-| tion. club on the
about | of birds.| houses, door |Seasonal| to number
the Make feederies,| obser- | change! pro- of in-
birds artis- andfoun-| va- in bird] tect sects
studied.| tic tains. tions. | life. birds. | eaten
bird by
calen- young
dar. birds.

Birds and literature. A study of good literature
should form an important part of the work with birds.
Below is a list of books containing bird poems: —

For Primary Grades

Ingpen, One Thousand Poems for Children. G. W. Jacobs & Co.,
Philadelphia. $1.25.

McMurry and Cook, Songs of Tree-Top and Meadow. Public
‘School Publishing Co., Bloomington, Ill. $.40.

Wiggin and Smith, The Posy Ring. Doubleday, Page & Co.,
Garden City, N.Y. $1.25.

For Intermediate Grades

Bailey and Lewis, For the Children’s Hour. Milton Bradley Co.,
Springfield, Mass. $1.50.

Knowlton, Nature Songs for Children. Milton Bradley Co.,
Springfield, Mass. $1.00.

Lovejoy, Nature in Verse. Silver, Burdett & Co., Boston. $.60.

298 BIRD FRIENDS

For Grammar Grades -

Burroughs, Songs of Nature. Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden
City, N.Y. $1.35.

Lovejoy, Poetry of the Seasons. Silver, Burdett & Co., Boston.
$.60.

Williams, Through the Year with Birds and Poets. Lothrop, Lee &
Shepard Co., Boston. $1.00.

Below are suggested a few books for the children’s
library, which are written in a style that children
can understand : —

Burroughs, Bird Stories from Burroughs. Houghton Mifflin Co.,
Boston. $.60.

Gould, Mother Nature’s Children. Ginn & Co., Boston. $.60.

Johonnot, Neighbors with Wings and Fins. American Book
Co., New York. $.40.

Miller, First Book of Birds. Houghton Miffin Co., Boston. $.60.

Miller, Second Book of Birds. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
$1.00.

Stickney and Hoffmann, Bird World. Ginn & Co., Boston. $.60.

Walker, Our Birds and their Nestlings. American Book Co.,
New York. $.60.

Wright, Gray Lady and the Birds. Macmillan Co., New York.
$1.00 (school edition).

Arithmetic and bird-study. Some problems in
arithmetic relating to the number of insects eaten
by birds, the numbers of birds, and other topics may
be given the children. A few are here suggested: —

A. Problems on the number of insects eaten by nestlings.

1. A pair of wrens were observed to feed their young 17 times
in an hour. The parents fed their young from 5 a.o. till 8 p.m.,
and the young remained in the nest 15 days. Assuming that
one insect was brought at each visit, how many insects were
destroyed by this brood of wrens?

2. During an outbreak of locusts in Nebraska in 1874, a man

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 299

saw a long-billed marsh wren carry 30 locusts to her young in
an hour. At this rate how many locusts did the brood consume
in a day of 12 hours? The area of Nebraska is about 77,000
square miles. If we assume that there were 20 broods of wrens
to each square mile, how many locusts did the wrens in Ne-
braska destroy in one day?

3. Many birds on the average feed their young about 200
times a day, and the young stay in the nest about two weeks.
After the leaves have fallen, count the number of nests in a cer-
tain area and then estimate the number of insects that have been
destroyed by the birds reared in these nests, assuming one insect
brought at each feeding.

4. A 40-acre farm in Rantoul, Kansas, had 157 pairs of birds
nesting on it in 1914. Assuming that the birds averaged to feed
their young 200 times a day, and that the young remained in the
nest 14 days, how many insects per acre were destroyed by these
birds? How many insects were destroyed on the whole farm?

B. Problems on amount of food eaten by adult birds.

1. A study made of owls during the winter months showed
that they destroyed 2 mice a day. It has been estimated that
each mouse does damage to the extent of 2 cents each year.
How much is an ow] worth a year?

2. A study made by the Biological Survey of the red-shoul-
dered hawk showed that out of 214 birds, 3 had eaten poultry and
102 had eaten mice. What per cent of the birds had eaten poul-
try and what per cent mice?

C. Problems on the numbers of birds.

1. A census made of birds in the eastern United States showed
that there was an average of 6 pairs of robins to each farm of
58 acres. There are about 4,000,000 farms east of the Mississippi,
averaging 93 acres each. How many robins are there on the
farms east of the Mississippi River?

2. This census also showed that for every 100 robins there
were 83 English sparrows, 49 catbirds, 37 brown thrashers,
28 house wrens, 27 kingbirds, and 26 bluebirds. How many in-
dividuals of each kind of birds are there on the farms east of the
Mississippi River?

3. This census also showed that there was an average of one
pair of birds per acre. How many birds are there altogether on
the farms east of the Mississippi River?

800 BIRD FRIENDS

D. Problems on migration.

1. Some Arctic terns travel each year from the edge of the
Antarctic continent to the most northern part of North Amer-
ica, a distance of 11,000 miles. It takes the bird about 20 weeks
to make the round trip. How far does it travel in a day?

2. The robin as a species travels from Iowa to Alaska, a dis-
tance of 3000 miles, in '78 days. How many miles does the robin
average to travel in a day?

E. Problems on the number of birds killed by cats.

1. A man in Massachusetts wrote to many people in the
State asking about the number of birds killed by a single cat.
The answers received from several hundred persons showed that
on an average a cat kills 33 birds during 1 month at the height
of the nesting-season, and that each farm averages to keep 2
cats. There are in the State 37,000 farms. How many birds do
the cats on these farms kill each season?

2. Find the number of cats kept in your locality, and estimate
the number of birds killed each year by these cats, assuming, as
in the previous problem, that each cat kills 33 birds in a season.

F. Miscellaneous problem.

1. A study of hawks made by the United States Department
of Agriculture showed that 5 kinds were harmful, 7 kinds were
neutral, and 35 kinds were beneficial. What per cent of the
hawks respectively are harmful, neutral, and beneficial?

Essentials of a good lesson. As previously men-
tioned, the teacher needs to consider the matter of
materials in planning for a bird lesson; and it is
also suggested that a consideration of the three
following points for each lesson or topic taught may
prove helpful: (1) the child’s problem; (2) the de-
velopment of the lesson based on the problem; and
(3) the application or use by the child of what he
has been taught.

Child’s problem. The child’s problem is a means
of arousing the child’s interest. It should be a ques-

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 301

tion that appeals to him, that he is anxious to solve.
This should find its origin in the present needs and
interests of the child; that is, it should be a child’s
and not an adult’s problem. It should be very def-
inite and specific and so stated as to involve only
one leading thought. It should be something the
solution of which is evidently worth while. This
problem will serve, not only as a stimulus to the
child, but also as a guide to both child and teacher
to determine what particular phases of the topic
shall be considered. Hence it is evident that the first
step is to get the problem clearly before the chil-
dren so that they may understand the purpose of
the lesson. In order to interest the children in the
problem, it should be led up to by questioning them
about things they already know concerning some
topic closely related to the problem. The problem
should be the central thought of the lesson around
which the points to be taught may be grouped.

In the outline given on the following pages, ques-
tions are suggested which may serve as problems for
the topic under consideration.

Development. The development should be based
on the problem. The purpose of this is to solve the
problem, and only those points should be included
which are necessary for this solution. All other
points should be omitted. On the other hand,
enough points should be included to answer the
problem satisfactorily. The problem will be the

302 BIRD FRIENDS

basis, not only for the selection of the subject matter,
but for its organization as well.

Application. The use of knowledge is the chief
end of education. One of the vital things in plan-
ning a nature-study lesson is to consider how the
children may be encouraged to make use of what
they have learned. If the problem does not seem
to allow of any application, it may well be ques-
tioned whether it has been wisely chosen. The appli-
cation should be the doing of something which in-
terests the child and which can be done naturally
in his ordinary life. It should be so clearly stated
that the child has a very definite idea of what is to
be done. It is usually well to suggest only a few
things at a time, perhaps only one.

Following are suggested some ways in which ap-
plication may be made in bird-study: (1) actually
doing the things taught in the lesson, as in build-
ing nesting-houses, feeding winter birds, and provid-
ing fountains; (2) making outdoor observations on
the birds studied in the schoolroom; (3) watching
others do the things studied, such as planting of
shrubs in the parks and the erection of martin-
houses; (4) making a collection of birds’ nests (in the
fall) and of nesting-houses; (5) talking over with
parents at home the topics studied; (6) cutting out
clippings from newspapers and magazines relating

to the topic under consideration, and bringing them
to school.

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 303

As a definite illustration of these suggestions the
following lesson is given for a third grade: —

1. Grade and season: third, spring.
2. Topic: nesting-house for wren.
8. Materials: picture of house wren, wren’s nest, several types
of wren’s houses.
4. The lesson.
A. The child’s problem.
1. Approach to child’s problem.
What kind of a house do you live in? Of what
is it made? How many floors are there? How
many rooms? How many windows and doors?
2. Statement of child’s problem.
We will try to learn to-day what kind of a house
we should make for a pair of wrens to nest in.
B. Development.
Outline of points. Questions.

1. Kinds of How many different kinds of ma-
materials terials can we use? Which do you
to use. think will be the best? Why?

2. Size of How can we tell how large to
house. make the house? How large a nest

does the wren make? How large
is the bird?

3. Shape of What shape is your house? What
house. shapes can we make the house

for the wren? Which do you think
is the best shape?

4. Entrance How large is the house wren?
hole. How large shall we make the en-
A. Size. trance? What is the best shape
B. Shape. to make it? In what part of the
C. Loca- house shall we make it?

tion.
5. Provision | What shall we put on the house
for fas- so we can hang it up?

tening. |§ Whichof these housesdo you think
a wren would like best? Why?

304 BIRD FRIENDS

C. Application.

How many would like to make a wren house so as
to have a pair of wrens nest in your yard? How many
of you will try; and find materials to make it of,
such as thin boards, a cigar-box, or a chalk-box? If
you cannot make the house yourself, ask some one
at home to help you, or you may bring the material
to school and I will help you. See if you can all
get your houses finished in a few days, and you may
all bring your houses to school a week from to-day,
and we will have a picture taken of those children
who have their bird-houses with them.

This lesson should be followed by another, after
the house is finished, on how to put out the house,
involving a consideration of the place to put it, the
height, the method of fastening, and protection
from cats.

Two problems are constantly confronting the
teacher: first, how to teach, and second, what to
teach. Some suggestions on the first problem have
already been given. A partial solution of the second
problem is offered in the following outline of bird-

study arranged by grades and seasons: —

OUTLINE OF BIRD-STUDY

(Arranged by grades and seasons with problems suggested for the
various topics)

First GRADE

Spring
1. Bird walks.
2, Special study of robin and bluebird.
Problems.

How can wetell the bluebird when weseeit? (See page310.)
Why do you like the robin?

Oo tO

ore

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 305

SEconD GRADE

Spring
. Bird calendar.
. Bird walks.
. Special study of the red-winged blackbird, Baltimore oriole,

and chimney swift.
Problems.
How can we tell the oriole (or blackbird or swift) when
we see it outdoors?
How does the swift differ from the oriole in its habits?
Which do you think is the most interesting bird of these
three?

Tamp GRADE
Winter
Christmas dinner for the birds. (Use old Christmas tree.)

Problem. :
What kind of Christmas gifts do birds like?

Spring

. Bird calendar.
. Bird walks.
. Special study of house wren, scarlet tanager and rose-

breasted grosbeak.

. Building nesting-houses for the wren.
. Bird club organized and meetings held through the term.’

Problems.

Which do you think is the prettier bird, the tanager or
the grosbeak?

How can you tell each of these from other birds?

Why would you like to have a wren nest around your
home this summer?

What kind of a house shall we make for a wren to nest
in? (See page 303.)

What can our bird club do to help the birds?

306

Saas oF

Seu

BIRD FRIENDS

FourtH GRADE
Fall

. Departure of birds; comparison with bird life in the spring.
. Bird club meets to report on experiences with bird-houses
the previous summer.

Spring

Bird calendar.

Changes in bird activities as the season advances.

Special study of the birds of the dooryards and shade-
trees, such as blue jay, English sparrow, robin, bluebird,
chipping sparrow, house wren, Baltimore oriole, yellow
warbler.

Building nesting-houses for the wrens.

Formation of bird clubs; meetings through term.
Fountains for drinking and bathing.

Problems.

What changes do you notice in bird activities as the
season advances?

Is the English sparrow a nuisance or is it of value to us?

Of what use is the robin to us?

How is the oriole fitted for its life in the air and among
the trees?

How can you tell the yellow warbler from the gold-
finch?

How can we provide water for the birds during the
summer? (See page 311.)

Why would you like to form a bird club?

Firrh GrapE
Winter

Winter birds, such as the blue jay, nuthatch, chickadee,

woodpecker; their identification and feeding.

Problems.

What is the best way of telling the winter birds apart?
How can we help them? (See page 311.)

—_

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 307

Spring

. Special study of birds of the air, such as the bank swallow,

tree swallow, barn swallow, eave swallow, martin, chimney
swift, nighthawk.

. Building nesting-houses for the bluebird.
. Study of nesting-habits of birds.

Nest — location, materials, construction; eggs — num-
ber, size, color, incubation; young birds — care
given by parents, time in nest.

Putting out nesting-material.

. Formation of bird clubs and meetings through term.

Problems.

In what ways are swallows fitted for living on the wing?

How can we tell the different swallows apart?

Of what use are the swallows to us?

What makes bird-houses a better protection to birds
than their natural nesting-sites?

How can we get the bluebird to help destroy the insects
in our garden?

What materials do birds’ nests contain that we can put
out for the birds to use? (See page 312.)

What care do parent birds give their young?

SrxtH GRADE
Fall

. Migration.
. Nest census (after leaves fall).

Problems.
Which are among the first birds to leave and which stay
the longest?
How many nests can we find in the trees and shrubs
growing within two blocks of the schoolhouse?

Winter

. Value of winter birds.
. Helping the birds by feeding them.

Problems.
What do the winter birds do for us?
How can we help the winter birds?

308

9 2

BIRD FRIENDS

Spring

. Special study of birds of the marsh, such as the red-winged

blackbird and marsh wren; and of birds of meadows and
fields, such as the bob-white, horned lark, meadowlark,
vesper sparrow, field sparrow, cowbird, bobolink.

. Building open nesting-boxes for the robin and the pheebe.
. Migration — times, groups of birds (permanent, summer,

and winter residents, and transient visitants); routes,
distances, calendar of spring migration.

. Bird-protection; special emphasis on the work of the

Audubon societies. Formation of an Audubon Bird Club.

. Grouping of birds according to color and size. (See pages 312

and 313.)
Problems.

Why is the red-winged blackbird an interesting bird to
study?

Of what use are the birds of the meadows and fields to us?

Which is the most valuable of these birds?

What kind of a nesting-box can we make so as to get
a pair of robins or pheebestonestin it? (See page 313.)

How are birds grouped according to the time of the year
they stay with us?

Let us try to follow on a map the travels of a bobolink
for a year.

What is the Audubon Society doing to protect birds?
(See page 314.)

What can we do in our Audubon Club to help the birds?

SEVENTH GRADE
Spring

. Birds of the garden and orchard, such as the chickadee,

cuckoo, kingbird, nuthatch, phoebe, woodpecker, gros-
beak, bluebird.

. Attracting bird friends to the yard and garden by planting

shrubs and providing fountains.

. Bird songs; use for identification, differences, methods of

recording, time given.

. Plumage and moulting; differences in color due to age,

sex, and season.

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 309

Or oe 09

Problems.

Why is it desirable to have birds around the yard and
garden?

Which is the most interesting bird?

How may each of these birds be identified?

In what ways is the wren (or other bird) useful?

What may be done to increase the number of birds
around our homes?

How can we identify birds from their songs?

Through what changes in plumage does a rose-breasted
grosbeak pass from the time it is first hatched till it
is two years old.

Eieuta Grape
Spring

. Special study of birds of the woods, such as warblers,

thrushes, woodpeckers, and vireos.

. Economic value of birds to the forests in destroying in-

jurious insects; value elsewhere in destroying weed seeds
and rodent pests.

. Bird-enemies; natural enemies, cat, man as an enemy.
. Work of the National Government to protect birds.
. Adaptations shown in bill, feet, wings, and tail.

Problems.
| In what ways’are birds useful to the forest?

In what other ways are birds useful?

Which is greater, the good or harm that birds do?

Are all of our birds worthy of protection?

How may we identify the different species of the follow-
ing families; warblers, vireos, woodpeckers, thrushes?

What interesting habits of these birds may we study
this spring?

Which have done more harm to the birds, man or the
birds’ natural enemies?

What is the National Government doing to protect
birds? (See page 315.)

How can we help in the work of protecting birds?

How do the water-birds differ from the land-birds in the
structure and use of their feet, bill, wings, and tail?

310 BIRD FRIENDS

Series of lessons. Following is a series of lessons
based on the outline already given. For each lesson,
the child’s problem, the outline of the points of the
development, and the application are suggested: —

First Grade — Spring.
Topic, the Bluebird.
Materials, colored picture of a bluebird.
Child’s problem.
How can we tell the bluebird when we see it?
Outline of development.
1. Color.
A. On back.
B. On breast.
2. Size.
Application.
Ask the children to watch for a bluebird and report to
the class the first one they see.
Correlated work.
Have children color outline of bluebird.
Read from
Wiggin and Smith, Posy Ring, page 68.
Wright, Gray Lady and the Birds, page 318.
Walker, Our Birds and their Nestlings, page 24.
Second Grade — Spring.
Topic, the Baltimore Oriole.
Materials, colored picture and nest of the oriole.
Child’s problem.
Why would you like to have a pair of orioles nest in
your yard?
Outline of development.
1. Pretty colors.
2. Pleasing song.
3. Interesting nest.
4. Care of the young.
Application.
Ask the children to watch for the oriole, and when they
find one, watch what it does and report to the class.

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 311

Correlated work.
Color outline; draw nest or make free-hand cutting.
Read from some of the following: —
Whittier, Child-Life, page 64.
Burroughs, Songs of Nature, page 74.
Bailey and Lewis, For the Children’s Hour, page 171.
Wright, Gray Lady and the Birds, pages 413 and 419.
Third Grade — Spring.
Topic, Wren’s House. (See page 303.)
Fourth Grade — Spring.

Topic, Bird Fountains.

Materials, pictures of fountains; receptacles suitable for
fountains, such as pans and flower-pot saucers.

Child’s problem.

How can we provide water for the birds to drink and
bathe in during the summer?

Outline of development.

1. Kind of fountain.

2. Depth of water.

3. Character of edge and bottom.
4. Keeping fresh supply.

5. Places to put fountain.

Application.

Encourage the children to put out the fountains around
their homes and report the results to the class.
Fifth Grade — Winter.

Topic, the Winter Birds.

Materials, samples of food that may be used, such as
grains, nuts, etc.; a few simple feeding-devices, such as
shelves, hoppers, and a suet-basket.

Child’s problem.

How can we help the birds this winter?

Outline of development.

1. Kinds of food.

2. Methods of putting it out.

8. Birds that may come.

4. Taming birds to feed from the hand.

Application.

Having a feeding-station put in school-yard and food
provided by children. Encourage children to feed the
birds at their homes and to report the results.

312 BIRD FRIENDS

Correlated work.

Have the children in the manual-training department
make various feeding-devices, such as suet-baskets,
shelves, hoppers, moving counters, and a large feedery
for the school-yard.

Fifth Grade — Spring.

Topic, Nesting-Material for the Birds.

Materials, a collection of nests; samples of things that
may be put out, pictures of some birds most apt to
use these materials, such as the oriole, chipping spar-
Tow.

Child’s problem.

We will examine these nests to find what kind of material
they contain that we may put out for the birds to use
in making their nests.

Outline of development.

1. List of things found in nests.

2. List of things furnished by man.

8. Relative abundance of materials.

4, Birds making most use of these materials.

Application. Encourage the children to put out things
around their homes that birds might use in their nests,
such as string, yarn, cotton batting, pieces of cloth,
horsehair, etc.

Sixth Grade — Spring.

Topic, Identification of Birds. (A review lesson.)

Child’s problem.

What are the most common colors found on birds by
which we may identify them?

Write on the board a list of all the birds the children know.
Then put the following table on the board and have the
children fill in the names of the birds in the proper
columns: —

Birds marked with

Red Blue Yellow Brown Black Gray

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 313

Sixth Grade — Spring.

Topic, Size of Birds. (A review lesson.)

Child’s problem.

How do our common birds compare in size with the
English sparrow and the robin?

Write on the board a list of the birds that the children know.
Then put the following table on the board and have the
children fill in the names of the birds in the proper col-
umns: —

Birds grouped according to size

Larger than | Same size as Bdueon tie Same size as | Smaller than

the robin the robin the sparraw the sparrow | the sparrow

Sizth Grade — Spring.
Topic, Open Boxes for Robin and Pheebe.
Materials, pictures and nests of the robin and the pheebe;
samples or pictures of open houses.
Child’s problem.

How may we get a pair of robins or pheebes to nest in
our yard and help destroy the injurious insects in our
gardens?

Outline of development.

1. Kind of material to make house of.

2. Size of house.

3. Shape of house.

4. Number of open sides.

5. Place to put out.

Application.
Encourage children to make them and put out in their
yards. Have one made for the school-yard.

Correlated work.

These boxes may be made in connection with the manual-

training department.
Sizth Grade — Spring.
Topic, Work of the Audubon Societies.
Materials, samples of the leaflets published by the Aubudon

314 BIRD FRIENDS

Societies; a November-December issue of “‘ Bird-Lore,”
which contains the annual report of the National Asso-
ciation of Audubon Societies.
Child’s problem.
What are the Audubon Societies doing to protect birds?
Outline of development.
1. Legislation.
2. Wardens.
8. Lecturers.
4. Bird reservations.
5. Publications.
6. Junior Audubon Societies.
Application.
Have the children form a Junior Audubon Class to
help protect the birds.
Seventh Grade — Spring.
Topic, the Robin.
Materials, picture of robin, nest; pictures or samples of
insects eaten.
Child’s problem.
Which is greater, the good or the harm that therobin does?
Outline of development.
1. Good done.
A. Injurious insects eaten.
B. Pleasure given as an interesting bird.
2. Harm done.
A. Fruit eaten.
3. Comparison of the two.
Application.
Ask the children to watch the robin and see if they can
tell what it eats.
Eighth Grade — Spring.
Topic, Hawks and Owls.
Materials, pictures of hawks and owls and of the animals
they eat.
Child’s problem.
Should hawks and owls be protected?
Outline of development.
1. Beneficial species.
2. Neutral species.
3. Harmful species.

BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS 315

Application.

Have the children look up the state law to see which
hawks and owls are protected. Have the papers
watched and clippings made.

Eighth Grade.

Pee Work of the National Government in Protecting
irds.

Maierials, sample of bulletin published by the Bureau of
Biological Survey; map showing location of bird
reservations; copy of the Migratory Bird Law.

Child’s problem.

What is the National Government doing to protect birds?

Outline of development.

1. Work of the Bureau of Biological Survey

2. Bird reservations.

3. Law protecting migratory birds.

4. Tariff restrictions on feathers.

Application.

Ask the children to watch the papers for items concerning
any of the above, especially number 3, and bring
clippings to class.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tue following is a brief bibliography to suggest a few refer-
ences for those who may wish to find more detailed discussion
of the topics which have necessarily been briefly treated in these

pages.

MIGRATION
Cuapman. Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America. D.
Appleton & Co., New York.
Cowarp. Migration of Birds. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.
National Geographic Magazine, April, 1911.
Bulletin 185 of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey.

MUSIC

Cuapman. Handbook of Birds.

Independent, vol. 63, pp. 491-97; 604-09.

Harper’s Magazine, vol. 113, pp. 725-30; vol. 114, pp. 766-71.

Matuews. Field Book of Wild Birds and Their Music. G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, New York.

NESTS

Ducemore. Bird Homes. Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City,
N.Y.

REARING THE YOUNG

Cnapman. Handbook of Birds.
Herrick. Home Life of Wild Birds. G. P. Putnam’s Sons,

New York.

PLUMAGE

Cuapman. Handbook of Birds.
Breese. The Bird. Henry Holt & Co., New York.

318 BIBLIOGRAPHY

HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS

Jos. How to Study Birds. Outing Publishing Co., New York.

Cuapman. Handbook of Birds.

Batter. Handbook of Birds of the Western United States.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.

Horrmann. A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern
New York. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.

Reep. Land Birds. Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City, N.Y.

ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS

ForsusH. Our Useful Birds and their Protection. Massachu-

setts State Board of Agriculture, Boston, Mass.

WEED and Dearsorn. Birds in Relation to Man. J. B. Lippin-

cott Co., Philadelphia.

Publications of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, sold at
a nominal price by the Superintendent of Documents,
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Bulletin No. 9. Cuckoos and Shrikes.
Bulletin No. 15. Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture.
Bulletin No. 17. Birds of a Maryland Farm.
Bulletin No. 21. The Bob-White and other Quails of the United
States in their Economic Relations.
Bulletin No. 22. Birds known to Eat the Boll Weevil.
Bulletin No. 23. The Horned Larks and their Relation to Agri-
culture.
Bulletin No. 32. Food Habits of the Grosbeaks.
Bulletin No. 37. Food of the Woodpeckers of the United States.
Bulletin No. 39. Woodpeckers in Relation to Trees and Wood
Products. :
Bulletin No. 44. Food of Our More Important Flycatchers.
Bulletin No. 171. Food of the Robins and Bluebirds of the
United States.
Farmers’ Bulletins: —
No. 456. Our Grosbeaks and their Value to Agriculture.
No. 493. The English Sparrow as a Pest.
No. 497. Some Common Game, Aquatic, and Rapacious
Birds in Relation to Man.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 319

No. 506. Food of Some Well-Known Birds of Forest, Farm
and Garden.
No. 513. Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard.
No. 630. Some Common Birds Useful to Farmers.
Yearbooks of the Department of Agriculture. In nearly
every Yearbook since 1894 are found articles dealing with
the economic value of birds.

ENEMIES OF BIRDS

Forsusx. Useful Birds and their Protection.

Forsusn. Game Birds, Wild Fowl, and Shore Birds.

Forsusn. The Domestic Cat. Economic Biology Bulletin No. 2.
All three published by the Massachusetts State Board of

Agriculture, Boston, Mass.
Baynes. Wild Bird Guests. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York.
Hornapay. Our Vanishing Wild Life. Charles Scribner’s Sons,
New York.

BIRD-PROTECTION

Bird-Lore. The issue for November-December in any recent year
contains the annual report of the National Association of
Audubon Societies.

Forsuss. Our Useful Birds and their Protection.

Hornapay. Our Vanishing Wild Life.

Reports of the Meriden (N.H.) Bird Club.

Reports of the Brush Hill Bird Club, Milton, Mass.

Circular No. 87 of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey. Na-
tional Reservations for the Protection of Wild Life.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 692. Game Laws for 1915.

Circulars Nos. 92 and 93 of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Sur-
vey: — Circular No. 92. Proposed Regulations for the Protection

of Migratory Birds.
Circular No. 93. Explanation of the Proposed Regulations for
the Protection of Migratory Birds.

ATTRACTING BIRDS

Baynes. Wild Bird Guests. E. P. Dutton, New York.

Forsusx. Our Useful Birds and their Protection.

Hirsemann. How to Attract and Protect Wild Birds. National
Association of Audubon Societies, New York.

320 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jos. Propagation of Wild Birds. Doubleday, Page & Co.,
Garden City, N.Y.

Trarton. Methods of Attracting Birds. Houghton Mifflin Co.,
Boston.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 621. How to Attract Birds in the North-
eastern United States.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 609. Bird-Houses and Howto Build Them.

Bulletins Nos. 1, 2, and 3 of the National Association of Au-
dubon Societies: —
1. Attracting Birds around the Home.
2. Propagation of Upland Game Birds.
3. Propagation of Wild Water Foul.

National Geographic Magazine, March, 1914. Found also in
Some Common Birds of Town and Country, published by the
Magazine.

TEACHING BIRD-PROTECTION IN THE SCHOOLS

Comstock. Handbook of Nature-Study. Comstock Publishing
Co., Ithaca, N. Y.

Hover. Nature-Study and Life. Ginn & Co., Boston.

Trarton. Methods of Attracting Birds. Houghton Mifflin Co.,
Boston.

INDEX

Activities of children, 286.
oe Ornithologists’ Union,
o.

Application of lessons, 302.

Arithmetic and bird-study, 298.

auduben classes, junior, 182-84,

92.

Audubon food-house, 255.

Audubon Magazine, 175.

Audubon Societies, National Asso-
ciation of, bird sanctuaries, 185;
classes of membership, 177; de-
partment of applied ornithology,
184; egret-protection, 179; field
agents, 184; formation of, 176;
junior Audubon classes, 182-84;
legislation, 178-79; lesson on,
313-14; needs of, 185; publica-
tions of, 180-81; summer courses
in bird-study, 184; warden work,
179.

Audubon Societies, State, 186.

Audubon Society, first, 174-75.

Auk, great, 117.

Barrows, Prof. Walter B., 153.
Baynes, Ernest Harold, 9, 83, 98,
155, 209, 217, 231, 256, 263.

Beneficial birds, 110, 112.

Berlepsch, Baron von, 228.

Bird clubs; activities of, 216-17; for
children, 292; number of, 217.

Bird day, 189, 296.

Bird-Lore, 58, 123, 140, 151, 180,

181.

Bird-study, attractions of, 48;
equipment for, 50; how to study,
55; what to study, 56; when to
study, 54; where to study, 53.

Blackbird, crow (grackle), dates of
nesting and migration, 62; eco-
nomic status of, 112; grain eaten
by, 101; nest-robber, 108; num-

ber and kinds of insects eaten by,
74; table of food, 115; weed seeds
eaten by, 87, 88.

Blackbird, red-winged, dates of
migration and nesting, 62; eco-
nomic status of, 112; feeding
young, 86; food of, 115; grain
eaten by, 101; nest of, 28; num-
ber of insects eaten by, 74; sexual
differences in color, 46; song of,
16; weed seeds eaten by, 87.

Bluebird, attacked by English
sparrow, 153; dates of migration
and nesting, 62; destruction in
winter, 133; economic status of,
112; food of, 115; killed by cats,
140; kinds of insects eaten by,
74; lesson on, 310; nesting-box
for, 243; number of broods of,
32; number in United States,
126; phamge of nestlings, 45;
sexual differences in color, 46;
song of, 23; table of nesting-
habits, 35.

Bobolink, change in plumage of,
45; dates of migration and nest-
ing, 62; economic status of, 112;
harm done in rice-fields by, 102~
03; killed in South Carolina, 168;
location of nest, 27; migration-
route of, 8; song of, 23; winter
home of, 6.

Bob-white, call of, 22; date of nest-
ing, 61; destruction in winter,
132-33; economic status of, 113;
food of, 115; in captivity, 65; in-
sects eaten by, 74, 75, 83; killed
in Louisiana and Alabama, 168;
nest of, 27; number killed by
cats, 140; rearing of, 273; weed
seeds eaten by, 87, 88.

Bond, Frank, 158.

Bounties, 93.

324

Boys, shooting by, 165.

Bradley, Guy, 171.

Brooding young, 37.

Broods, number of, 32.

Brush Hill Bird Club, constitution
of, 212-13; exhibit by, 211-12.
Bunting, indigo, dates of migration

and nesting, 62.

Bureau of Biological Survey, 63,
73, 74, 75, 87, 88, 94, 95, 105,
114, 124, 192, 264, 265.

Burns, Frank L., 124.

Burroughs, John, 25, 28, 139, 214.

Burroughs Nature Club, 214-15.

Calendar, for attracting birds, 269;
for children, 284.

Call-notes, 25.

Cardinal, food of, 115; kinds of in-
sects eaten by, 74; song of fe-
male, 13; weed seeds eaten by,
87.

Carnegie foundation, 220.

Cat, dealers in traps for, 247;
disease-carrier, 146-18; enemy
of nestlings, 43; licensing, 148;
method of doing harm, 135-36;
number kept per family, 142;
number of birds killed by, 189-
46; protection of nesting-houses
from, 39-40; protection of win-
ter birds from, 258; remedies,
148-51.

Catbird, dates of migration and
nesting, 62; economic status,
112; feeding young, 36; food of,
115; fruit eaten by, 99; nest of,
28, 29; number in United States,
126; number killed by cats, 140.

Cedar-bird, economic status of,
112; food of, 115; fruit eaten by,
99; growth of nestlings, 35; table
of nesting-habits, 35, 36.

Census, by Bureau of Biological
Survey, 57, 124; by Bird-Lore,
58, 123,

Chapman, Frank M., 43, 114, 137,
168, 180.

Chebec (least flycatcher); benefi-

INDEX

cial insects eaten by, 106; eco-
nomic states of, 112; food of,
115; kinds of insects eaten by,
74; nest of, 28.

Chewink (towhee), dates of mi-
gration and nesting, 62; song of,
20.

Chickadee, date of nesting, 61; eco-
nomic status, 113: nesting-box
for, 243; number of insects eaten
by, 73, 75; number killed by cats,
140; plumage of nestlings, 45.

Chicken, prairie, 21.

Child’s problem, 300.

Coloration, protective, 46.

Colors of birds, lesson on, 312.

Cooke, Wells W., 5.

Correlation of bird-study, 296.

Counter-shading, 14.

Courtship, 26.

Cowbird, dates of migration and
nesting, 62; economic status,
112; food of, 115; grain eaten
by, 101; nesting-habits of, 31,
108; weed seeds eaten by, 87.

Crane, whooping, 120.

Creeper, brown, dates of migration,
61.

Crow, call-notes of, 25; date of
nesting, 61; economic status of,
112; enemy of other birds, 129,
131; food of, 115; grain eaten by,
101; nest-robber, 108.

Cuckoo, economic status of, 113;
food of, 115; number and kinds
of insects eaten by, 73, 74.

Curlew, Eskimo, 120.

Dove, mourning, dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 62; economic
status of, 112; food of, 115; weed
seeds eaten by, 87, 88.

Dowitcher, 120.

Dramatization, 284.

Duck, Labrador, 117.

Ducks, attracting, 276; number
killed in Louisiana, 168; rear-
ing, 275.

Duets of birds, 19.

INDEX

Dutcher, William, 169, 177, 256.
Dyke, A. C., 139.

Egg-collecting, 171-72.
Eggs, 33.

Egret, American, 120, 171.
Entrance hole of nesting-boxes, lo-
cation of, 235; size of, 234-35.

Extinct birds, 116.

Fairbanks, Cornelia T., 150.

Feeding winter birds, by children,
280; dealers in apparatus for,
247-48; from hand, 251; in Au-
dubon food-house, 255; in hop-
per, 255; in school-yard, 290;
in suet-box, 254; in weather-
cock food-house, 256; in window
box, 256; kinds of food, 252; les-
son on, 311; methods of, 253;
need of, 250-51; on ground, 253;
on moving counter, 256-58; on
shelves, 253.

Field agents, 184.

Field, George W., 143.

Field-glasses, 51.

Field trips with children, 291.

Fisher, Dr. A. K., 94, 132, 138, 143.

Flagg, Wilson, 23.

Flicker, dates of migration and
nesting, 62; food of, 115; method
of feeding young, 37; nesting-
box for, 243; number and kinds
of insects eaten by, 74; number
killed by cats, 140; song of, 16.

Fly, birds eating, 81, 83.

Flycatcher, crested, food of, 115:
kinds of insects eaten by, 74;
nest of, 29.

Flycatcher, least. See Chebec.

Food-house, Audubon, 255; weath-
ercock, 256.

Food of birds, amount of, 72; how
determined, 64-68; table of, 115.

Forbush, Edward H., 73, 88, 121,
122, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143,
147, 156, 165, 224, 232, 237, 240,
244, 246, 249.

Ford, Henry, 218.

325

Foreigners, shooting by, 166.

Fountains, concrete, 261-62; deal-
ers in, 247-48; essentials of, 260;
in school-yard, 291; lesson on,
311; location of, 260.

Foxes, 129.

Fruit-eaters, 99.

Fruits, kinds eaten by birds, 265;
succession of, 267; table of fruit-
ing-periods, 260.

Game-birds, decrease of, 120.

Game laws, 189-91.

Game preserves, 218-20.

Games for children, 282.

Goldfinch, American, date of nest-
ing, 61; plumage of nestling, 45;
song of, 23.

Goose, Canada, 275.

Goshawk, 94.

Grackle. See Blackbird, crow.

Grain-eaters, 100.

Grinnell, George B., 174.

Grosbeak, rose-breasted, dates of
migration and nesting, 62; eco-
nomic status of, 113; feeding
young, 36; food of, 115; number
and kinds of insects eaten by, 74;
sexual differences in color, 46;
song of, 13, 23; weed seeds eaten
by, 87; winter home of, 6.

Grouse, ruffed, location of nest of,
27; number killed by cats, 140;
protective coloring, 47; rearing,
Q74,

Gull, Franklin’s, number of insects
eaten by, 74.

Gulls, 79.

Handwork for children, 281.
Hawk, broad-winged, 96.

Hawk, Cooper’s, 96, 103, 107, 111.
Hawk, duck, 94.

Hawk, fish (osprey), 33.

Hawk, marsh, 96, 98, 103.

Hawk, pigeon, 95, 96, 107.

Hawk, red-shouldered, 96.

Hawk, red-tailed, 96, 103.

Hawk, Swainson’s, 97.

326

Hawks, beneficial, 94; enemies of
other birds, 129; food-chart of,
96; harmful, 94; money value of,
97

Health, human, and birds, 81.

Henshaw, H. W., 90, 97, 114, 138,
162.

Herbaceous plants, 268.

Heron, snowy, 120.

Heronry, 277.

Hodge, Clifton H., 157, 274.

Hopper, automatic, 255.

Hornaday, W. T., 121, 138, 167.

Hummingbird, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; killed by cats,
140; method of feeding young, 37;
nest of, 28; winter home of, 3.

Hunting contests, 164.

Identification of birds, 49.

Incubation, 33.

Injurious birds, 110, 111.

Insects, beneficial destroyed by
birds, 106; harm done by, 68;
kinds eaten by birds, 74; nature's
check on, 70; number eaten by
birds, 73, 74, 77, 78; power of re-
production of, 70.

day, blue, date of nesting, 61; eco-
nomic status, 112; enemy of:
other birds, 129, 131; food of,
115; nest-robber, 108; number
killed by cats, 140.

Job, Herbert K., 184, 272, 273, 278.

Johnson, C. A., 166.

Judd, Sylvester D., 80, 110. |

Junco, slate-colored, dates of mi-|

; gration, 61; food of, 115; number .
killed by cats, 140.

Kennard, Frederic H., 255, 267.

Killdeer, insects eaten by, 82.

Kingbird, beneficial insects eaten
by, 106; dates of migration and
nesting, 61; economic status of,
112; food of, 115; kinds of insects
eaten by. 74, 82; number in
United States, 126; table of;

INDEX

n -habits, 35, 36: winter
home of, 6.

Kingfisher, dates of migration and
nesting, 61; nest of, 28; table of
nesting-habits, 35.

Knot, 120.

Lacey Act, 193.

Ladd, Neil W., 136, 156, 246.

Lark, horned, food of, 115; kinds of
insects eaten, 74, 53; weed seeds
eaten by, 57.

Laysan Island, tragedy on, 170.

eta history of, 178, 188-

fe es on birds, on Audubon So-
ciety, 313-14; on Baltimore ori-
ole, 310-11; on bluebird, 310;
on colors of birds, 312; on foun-
tains, 311; on hawks and owls,
314-15; on national government,
315; on nesting-box for wren,
303-04; on nesting-mat
312; on open box for robin and
phcebe, 313; on robin, 314; on
size of birds, 313; on winter birds,
311-12.

Liberty Bell Bird Club, 213-56,
293, 295.

Litchfield, E. H., 220.

Literature and birds, 297.

Longspur, Lapland, destruction of,
133-34.

MeTlhenny, Edward A., 219, 277.

McLean, George P.. 194.

Market shooting, 167-68.

Marsh Island reservation, 220.

Martin, purple, attacked by Eng-
lish Sparrow, 153; dates of mi-
gration and nesting, 61; destruc-
tion by storms, 134; house for,
243-44; house in school-yard,
289; insects eaten by, 82, 83.

Mathews, F. Schuyler, 17.

Meadowlark, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; economic status
of, 112: food of, 115; number
killed by cats, 140; trio by, 20

INDEX

Meriden Bird Club, 209-10.

Merriam, Dr. C. Hart, 93, 97, 192.

Migration, causes of, 10; changes
due to, 2; distances of, 4; rec-
ords of, 1; regularity of, 3;
routes of, 7; speed of, 6; time of,
7, 61, 62.

Migratory bird law, advantages
of, 196-97; passage of, 193-95;
regulations for, 197-202; text
of, 195-96.

Miller, Newton, 155.

Millinery, birds killed for, 168-70.

eae Bird Sanctuary, 220-

Mosquitoes, eaten by birds, 81-82.

Moulting, 44.

Moving counter, 256-58.

Music of birds, recording, 16; simi-
larity to human music, 18.

National Government, work of,
192-208; lesson on, 315.

Nesting-boxes, birds using, 226-27;
cement, 231; comparison of
types, 231; dealers in, 246-48;
entrance hole, 234-35; for chil-
dren, 287; height to put out, 238;
in school-yard, 289; lesson, 303;
location of, 237; method of
fastening, 238; movable covers,
235; need of, 225; open, 241-42,
313; pottery, 231; putting out,
236; protection from cats, 239;
protection from English sparrow,
240; roofing-paper, 231; size and
shape of, 233; table of, 243; time
to put out, 236; tin, 230; types of,
2o7.

Nesting-dates, 61-62.

Nesting-habits, study of, 57.

Nesting-materials, 244-45; lesson
on, 312.

Nests, location of, 27; materials in,
29; shape of, 29; time of building,
27, 30.

Nighthawk, dates of migration and
nesting, 61; economic status of,
113; kinds of insects eaten by,

327

74, 82; table of nesting-habits,
35; winter home of, 6.

Nuthatch, white-breasted, date of
nesting, 61; song of, 16.

Oldys, Henry, 18.

Oriole, Baltimore, dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 61; economic
status of, 113; food of, 115; les-
son on, 310; nest of, 28, 29;
nesting-material for, 245; num-
ber killed by cats, 140; sexual
differences in color, 46; table of
nesting-habits, 35, 36; winter
home of, 5.

Ornithologists, 221.

Osborne, Dr. Caroline A., 147.

Osprey, 33.

Outline of bird-study, 304-09.

Oven-bird, dates of migration and
nesting, 62; nest of, 27; song of,
16.

Owl, barn, 92.

Owl, barred, 96, 103.

Owl, great horned, 93, 95, 96, 103,
107.

Owl, long-eared, 92, 96.

Owl, screech, 96.

Owl, short-eared, 96.

Owls, beneficial, 94; food-chart of,
96; money value of, 97.

Parks, Military, 207; National,
207.

Paroquet, Carolina, 120.

Pearson, T. Gilbert, 138, 177.

Pease, Charles H., 138.

Pewee, wood, beneficial insects
eaten by, 106; dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 62; economic
status of, 112; food of, 115; kinds
of insects eaten by, 74, 82, 83;
song of, 18.

Phalarope, Northern, insects eaten
by, 82.

Pheasants, rearing, 274.

Phebe, beneficial insects eaten by,
106; dates of migration and nest-
ing, 62; economic status of, 112;

328

food of, 115; kinds of insects
eaten by, 74, 82, 83; nest of, 29,
32; open shelter for, 242; table of
nesting-habits, 35, 36.

Photography, 59.

Pictures of birds, 280.

Pigeon, passenger, 117-20.

Plover, golden, 120.

Plover, upland, 120.

Poultry, destruction of by birds,
103.

Pratt, Albert H., 144.

Quail. See Bob-white.

Redstart, and cowbird, 31; dates
of nesting and migration, 62;
number of insects eaten by, 73.

Regurgitation, 37.

Reservations, national bird, 204—
07; private, 218-21; state, 208.
Residents, permanent, 61; summer,

2, 62; winter, 2, 62.

Rice-fields, bobolink in, 102.

Roberts, Dr. T. S., 133.

Robin, attacked by English spar-
row, 153; dates of migration and
nesting, 62; economic status of,
112; food of, 66, 67, 115; fruit
eaten by, 99; lessons on, 313,
314; nest of, 29; number and
kinds of insects eaten by, 73, 74;
number in United States, 126;
number killed by cats, 140;
number of broods, 32; open
houses for, 242; slaughtered in
South, 166; song of, 17, 23;
speed of migration of, 6; table of
nesting-habits, 35, 36; time of
singing, 14; time to build nest, 30.

Rodents, harm done by, 91.

Roosevelt, Theodore, 204.

Sage, Mrs. Russell, 220.

Sanctuaries, 185; Birdcraft Sanc-
tuary, 186-87.

Sandpiper, pectoral, 120.

Sapsucker, economic status of, 111;
harm done to trees by, 104-06.

INDEX

Shaler, Nathaniel S., 151.

Shrike, 107.

Shrubs, for food, 264; for nesting-
sites, 264; for shelter, 263.

Sight of birds, 9.

Size of birds, lesson on, 313.

Songs, classification of, 21; season
of, 13: study of, 56; time of day
of, 14; variations in, 23.

Sparrow, chipping, dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 62; food of,
115; nest of, 28, 29; number
killed by cats, 140; period of
incubation, 33; time of singing,
14; weed seeds eaten by, 87,
88.

Sparrow, English, economic status,
111; enemy of other birds, 129;
food of, 115; grain eaten by,
101; nest-robber, 108; number
in United States, 126; number
killed by cats, 140; number of
broods, 32; poisoning, 156-59;
protection of nesting-houses
from, 240-41; protection of win-
ter birds from, 258-59; shooting,
155-56; table of nesting-habits,
35; trapping, 159-60; ways in
which harmful, 152-54.

Sparrow, field, duet by, 20; food
of, 115; nest of, 28; weed seeds
eaten by, 88. ;

Sparrow, song, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; food of, 115;
number killed by cats, 140; open
shelter for, 242; table of nesting-
habits, 35, 36; time of singing,
14; weed seeds eaten by, 87.

Sparrow, tree, dates of migration,
61; weed seeds eaten by, 88, 89.

Sparrow, vesper; dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 62; food of, 115;
song of, 23; weed seeds eaten by,
87.

Sparrow, white-throated, dates of
migration, 61; song of, 17.

Sportsmen, shooting by, 162-65.

Squirrel, red, 42, 130.

Starling, 108.

INDEX

ae governments, work of, 188-
9

Suet-box, 254.

Swallow, bank, insects eaten by,
82; nest of, 28.

Swallow, barn, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; insects eaten by,
82, 83; nest of 29; number killed
by cats, 140; open shelter for,
242; winter home of, 6.

Swallow, cliff, insects eaten by, 82;
route of migration, 8.

Swallow, tree, feeding young, 36;
insects eaten by, 82; nesting-box
for, 243.

Swallow, violet-green, insects eaten
by, 82.

Swan, trumpeter, 120.

Swift, chimney, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; insects eaten by,
82; nest of, 28; return to nesting-
site, 28.

Tanager, scarlet, dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 62; insects
eaten by, 73; moulting of, 44, 45,
46

Tariff regulations on plumes, 203-
04

Tern, Arctic, 5.

Thrasher. brown, dates of migra-
tion and nesting, 62; economic
status of, 112; food of, 115; fruits
eaten by, 99; number in United
States, 126; song of, 23.

Thrush, hermit, location of nest of,
27; song of, 23, 24.

Thrush, wood, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; food of, 115;
song of, 19, 24; table of nesting-
habits, 35.

Towhee. See Chewink.

Traps, for cats, 247; for sparrows,
159-60, 247.

Trees, damaged by sapsucker, 104.

Trios among birds, 20.

Turkeys, 274.

Uehling, Edward, 257-58.

329

Veery, dates of migration and nest-
ing, 62; song of, 23.

Vireo, red-eyed, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; duration of sing-
ing, 14: feeding young, 36; num-
ber of insects eaten by, 73; win-
ter home of, 6.

Vireo, warbling, dates of migration
and nesting, 62.

Vireo, yellow-throated,
eaten by, 82, 83.

Visitants, transient, 2.

insects

Walter, Mrs. Alice H., 151.

Warbler, chestnut-sided, song of,
16.

Warbler, Nashville, number of in-
sects eaten by, 73.

Warbler, yellow, and cowbird, 31;
dates of migration and nesting,
62; insects eaten by, 73, 82;
number killed by cats, 140.

Ward, Charles W., 219.

Water-plants for ducks, 276.

Waxwing, cedar. See Cedar-bird.

Weasels, 129.

Weathercock food-house, 256.

Weed seeds, dispersal of, 85; kinds
eaten by birds, 87; number eaten
by birds, 88; number of, 85; vi-
tality of, 85.

Weeds, harm done by, 84.

Weeks, John W., 194.

Whip-poor-will, insects eaten by,
82

Willet, 120.

Window box, 256.

Window shelf, 254.

Winter birds, feeding, 249-59;
study of, 58; lesson on, 311-12.

Winter homes of birds, 5.

Woodcock, 47, 120.

Woodpecker, downy, date of nest-
ing, 61; food of, 115; nesting-
box for, 243; number and kinds
of insects eaten by, 7+.

Woodpecker, hairy, food of, 115;
number and kinds of insects
eaten by, 74.

330

Woodpecker, red-headed, economic
status of, 112; food of, 115; kinds
of insects eaten by, 74; nesting-
box for, 243; plumage of nestlings
of, 46.

Worthington, Charles C., 219.

Wren, Bewick’s, song of, 20.

Wren, house, attacked by English
sparrow, 153; dates of migration
and nesting, 62; duration of song-
period, 14: economic status of,
113; food of, 115; lesson on, 303-
04; nest of, 29; nesting-box for,
243; number in United States,
126; number killed by cats, 140;

INDEX

number of broods of, 32; rearing
young, 38-41; song of, 22; table
of nesting-habits, 35, 36; time of
building nest, 30.

Wren, marsh, dates of migration
and nesting, 62; insects eaten by,
76; nest of, 28, 30.

Wren-tit, insects eaten by, 82.

Yellow-throat, Maryland, dates of
migration and nesting, 62; num-
ber of insects eaten by, 73; song
of, 16.

Young birds, feeding, 35; food of,
36; time in nest, 34; value of, 76.

Che Wivergide press
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